Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa secured a major victory over World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 4 of the Las Vegas Chess Grand Slam Tour. The 19-year-old defeated the Norwegian in just 39 moves on Wednesday, underlining his growing influence on the international chess stage.

Leading Group A with confidence

Praggnanandhaa emerged as the most consistent performer in Group A, recording three straight wins from rounds two to four. The fourth-round victory over pre-tournament favourite Carlsen stood out, as noted by Chess.com.

With a time control of 10 minutes plus a 10-second increment, Praggnanandhaa displayed composure and confidence rarely seen against a five-time world champion.

Strong group stage finish

Alongside Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, Praggnanandhaa finished with 4.5 points to top Group White. His run included wins over Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vincent Keymer, and a draw against Abdusattorov.

Carlsen, who struggled early, recovered with 1.5 points from his final two games to finish joint fourth. This placed him in a tiebreak against GM Levon Aronian for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Aronian knocks Carlsen into lower bracket

GM Levon Aronian dominated the tiebreak, defeating Carlsen 2-0 in their head-to-head, thereby securing a quarterfinal berth and pushing Carlsen into the lower bracket.

Aronian joins Group A’s other qualifiers—Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, and Sindarov—in the quarterfinals. Group B’s qualifiers include Hikaru Nakamura, Hans Niemann, Arjun Erigaisi, and Fabiano Caruana.

India's new generation continues to trouble Carlsen

Praggnanandhaa’s triumph follows fellow Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh’s recent win over Carlsen, though Gukesh is not participating in the Las Vegas event. These results underline the rising dominance of India's young chess talents on the global stage.