Magnus Carlsen, the top player in the world, was defeated by Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa in his first classical game to take the lead in the Norway Chess tournament.
After three rounds, the 18-year-old Indian, who has defeated Carlsen numerous times in rapid/exhibition games, assumed the lead with 5.5 points.
Playing with white pieces, Praggnanandhaa’s victory moved home favourite Carlsen up to the fifth position in the standings.
Classical chess, sometimes referred to as slow chess, gives players a long time—typically an hour or more—to plan their moves.
In this format, Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa had drawn their three previous meetings.
With 5.5 points, Praggnandhaa’s sister R Vaishali took first place in the women’s competition.
In her matchup with Anna Muzychuk, she drew.
In other matches, the current world champion Ding Liren of China was defeated by American Fabiano Caruana, ranked second in the world. After the defeat, Liren fell to the bottom of the six-player field.
Hikaru Nakamura, an American, defeated Frenchman Alireza Firouzja in his Armageddon match to earn an additional half point and place third in the standings.
In the fourth round, Nakamura will compete against Praggnanandhaa.
