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Praggnanandhaa scores huge win over Magnus Carlsen at Freestyle Chess in Las Vegas, helps eliminate tournament favourite
R Praggnanandhaa helped generate a massive upset, as his defeat of Magnus Carlsen saw the Norwegian knocked out of the round robin stage in Las Vegas.
Teenage Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa continued his strong performances in 2025, showing off his adaptability and flexibility across formats as he registered a landmark win over world number one Magnus Carlsen during the Freestyle Grand Slam chess event in Las Vegas last night. Playing with the white pieces, Pragg dominated his senior opponent with a strong display to take an outright lead in his group at the tournament, en route to qualifying for the quarterfinals.
Although he is not a stranger to big results and victories over Carlsen, Pragg’s statement Freestyle win comes over the founder of the Grand Slam Chess Tour, which signals his clear intentions to bounce back after a disappointing ninth place finish during an earlier leg in Paris.
Carlsen already leads the overall standings for the Grand Slam Tour, having won the previous two legs in Karlsruhe and Paris, and finishing third in the opening leg in Weissenhaus, Germany.
However, the player considered the greatest in chess history was upset in Nevada, as he could only finish in fifth place in the group after losing in a tiebreaker to Levon Aronian. After back-to-back losses to Pragg and Wesley So in the group stage, Carlsen couldn’t beat Aronian in the tiebreaker for fourth place, a massive upset in the expanded 16-player tournament, and one which opens the door wide for a title for the likes of Pragg.
Two Indians progress, one eliminated in Las Vegas
Praggnanandha held the joint lead in the White Group on 4.5 points after 7 rounds, meaning his progress was safe. The current format sees two groups of eight grandmasters each fighting for top four, with the top four from each group qualifying for the championship bracket, and bottom four left to fight in the bottom bracket. Alongside his win over Carlsen, Pragg also registered significant wins over Vincent Keymer and WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva to book his place in the championship bracket.
Alongside Pragg, Arjun Erigaisi also progressed from the Black Group by finishing in a strong third place. He qualifies behind Hikaru Nakamura, who is now likely the favourite for the event, as well as controversial GM Hans Niemann. It wasn’t such good news for the last Indian player in the event, as Vidit Gujrathi finished rock bottom of the Black Group.
