Praggnanandhaa stuns world champion Liren

Teenaged Indian chess superstar R Praggnanandhaa defeated world champion Ding Liren of China in the fourth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament here, a win which also helped him surpass the legendary Viswanathan Anand as the top-rated Indian player. After the victory late on Tuesday night, the 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa has 2748.3 points as against 2748 of five-time world champion Anand in the FIDE live ratings. The world chess body publishes the ratings at the start of each month. With the 62-move win with black pieces, Praggnanandhaa became the second Indian after Anand to defeat a reigning world champion in classical chess. Praggnanandhaa had also beaten Liren at the 2023 Tata Steel tournament. He is now third in the standings with 2.5 points in the Masters event. “That feels good!” Praggnanandhaa said after the win. Explaining his game strategy, Praggnanandhaa said, “From the opening itself, I was the one pushing. I got a pawn early on and I felt just pushing without any risk in a position, which is a bonus with black.” His focus at the moment is to just give his best.