‘It was 2 am, my parents were asleep. I woke my dad up and said: ‘I won’.’
‘He said, ‘Good’ and then went back to sleep because he had to go to office the next day.’
IMAGE: R Praggnanandhaa first beat Magnus Carlsen at the Champions Chess Tour in 2022. Photograph: Kind courtesy Stev Bonhage/FIDE
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, who turned 20 on Sunday, August 10, shared a funny anecdote about his first win over World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast.
‘Since it was 2 am, my parents were asleep. I woke my dad up and said: ‘I won’. He said, ‘Good’ and then went back to sleep because he had to go to office the next day,’ Pragg chuckled at the memory of defeating Carlsen in the online Champions Chess Tour in 2022.
‘I wasn’t thinking anything (about winning the game). I was just playing and I got my chance out of nowhere. Everything happened in like a few minutes. It was an online rapid game. I was quite happy.
‘I was just excited like I wasn’t expecting it and then suddenly… I mean the game was also going in a trend where he was putting pressure on me and then suddenly I got my chance.
‘I had to play some accurate moves which I did and I won. So I was just very happy and then I also didn’t expect so much reaction from outside after that. So that was also I think a good thing for the game. I think it brought more attention,’ Pragg added.
‘I was more excited about the fact that I just beat Magnus than the actual game. I didn’t think the game was particularly great or anything like that. I did analyse it later. I realised I didn’t really play well.
‘It was like the fifth game of the day or something. We were already tired and it was obvious that we were not not playing our best but I won and I think it was important for me back then.
‘It gave me a lot of confidence and I realised that the top players are not invincible, you can beat them. Until you actually get that first win, you always feel like they are just in a different world. But once you beat them, you know that it’s possible.’
On August 22, 2022, Pragg defeated Carlsen again — winning three straight games including two in blitz tie-breaks — 4-2 in the final round of the FTX Crypto Cup in Miami.
Pragg again beat Carslen at the 2024 Norway Chess for his first classical win over the World No. 1.
Last month, Pragg defeated Carlsen a fourth time, at the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event.
