Gukesh youngest ever to beat king Carlsen

Chennai, October 17

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Teenaged Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh stunned Magnus Carlsen in the ninth round of the preliminary phase of the Aimchess Rapid online chess tournament, becoming the youngest player to beat the world champion.

The 16-year-old from Chennai beat the world No. 1 with the white pieces. He moved up to the third position with 21 points after the 12th round. Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda (25 points) and Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (23 points) are first and second, respectively.

Gukesh’s 29-move dismantling of Carlsen comes a day after his 19-year-old compatriot Arjun Erigaisi had posted a maiden win over the Norwegian. Erigaisi has same points as Gukesh and lies fourth in the standings as the race for a spot in the knockout phase gets hotter.

“Gukesh just became the youngest player to ever beat Magnus after he became WC! Hats off to the 16-Year-old Indian superstar,” Meltwater Champions Chess Tour posted on Twitter. The Aimchess Rapid event is a part of the tour.

At 16 years, 4 months and 20 days, Gukesh overwrote the previous record which was held by R Praggnanandhaa’s. Praggnanandhaa was 16 years, 6 months and 10 days old when he notched up a 39-move victory over Carlsen in the Airthings Masters in February.

“Beating Magnus is always special, but I was not very proud of that game. As a professional, I am happy with the way I played the game. The win surely plays a vital role in boosting my confidence and I look forward to further games,” Gukesh said.

Even as Gukesh and Erigaisi underlined their talent and scored wins, the other Indians — Vidit Gujrathi, Aditya Mittal and P Harikrishna — failed to impress.

Carlsen is fifth after having a quiet day. After losing to Gukesh, he drew against Harikrishna and world rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov before ending with a win over Daniel Naroditsky.