R Praggnanandhaa created history by defeating world number 1 Magnus Carlsen for the second time in Norway chess.

New Delhi, 03 June 2026: R Praggnanandha In the eighth round of Norway Chess 2026, R. Praggnanandha once again gave a strong performance against world number 1 Magnus Carlsen. The 20-year-old Chennai Grandmaster created history by defeating Carlsen again on June 3. Praggnanandha also defeated Norway’s Carlsen in Round 3 of the same tournament.

This is the first time in 19 years that Norway’s world number 1 player has been defeated twice by the same player in the same classical tournament. Earlier, Indian veteran Viswanathan Anand had defeated Carlsen twice in the Linares tournament in 2007. Not only this, Praggnanandhaa had also defeated Carlsen in the 2024 Norway Chess.

R. Praggnanandha registers second win over Carlsen

Actually, R. Carlsen looked clearly unwell after his defeat at the hands of Prajnanandha. After losing once again against the young Indian player, he shook his head and immediately left the playing field. This defeat makes it difficult for Norwegian Carlsen to defend his title. With this win, Praggnanandhaa has 12 points and has moved to third place in the standings. With two rounds left, he remains in contention for the title. Wesley Sow is leading the standings with 14 points. Alireza Firoza is in second place with 13 points.

D Gukesh’s title hopes are almost over

Firozja World Champion D. Defeating Gukesh almost ended his title hopes. But for Prajnanandha, this momentum has come at the right time. His consecutive wins against Carlsen have made him the biggest star of this tournament. Despite the huge success, 20-year-old Praggnanandha remained calm and said after the match, “Winning matches in this tournament is more important than beating Magnus. That’s what’s important at this point. I’m glad I could do that.”

He also praised Carlsen’s enthusiasm during the match and acknowledged how difficult it was to defeat him. Praggnanandha said, “No, he was playing really well and saving brilliantly. I think a lot of the other players might have made small positional errors here and there, but he was making the right moves consistently. At one point, I actually thought the game would be a draw. It was surprising that he made such a mistake, because till then he had made very good saves. Overall, I think I was playing well. It was just that I didn’t feel like wasting time. So I didn’t spend much time.” I will try to keep playing like the last few matches, I will try to rest tomorrow and then come back with full enthusiasm for the final round.

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