Norway Chess Round 3: Honest Pragg extends local hero Carlsen’s misery

OSLO: R Praggnanandhaa scored a three-pointer against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.
Make that four. One extra point for honesty.


Despite scoring a second win in classical chess in the Norwegian’s own backyard on Wednesday in the third round of the elite event, Pragg chose not to rate the win very highly.







That candid analysis showed Pragg’s ambition to outplay the fivetime world champion but at once not be satisfied with a partly gifted win, nor take undue credit for the same.


Carlsen, playing black, burnt 15 minutes for his seventh move (h6 against h4) explaining in a confessional box that there were about 15 playable moves for him at that point. The 35-year-old then gave away a rook for the knight against the 20-year-old for better queen activity. Carlsen eventually got his pawn breaks in the ‘g’ and ‘h’ files.


Pragg’s dubious 37th move (Nd6) gave his rival an upper hand in the double rook, knight, bishop vs double knight, rook, bishop endgame. Carlsen also had two extra pawns (5 vs Pragg’s 3). “There were just crazy complications and tactics,” said Pragg.


Carlsen not only failed to find the strongest winning continuation (choosing to give away his rook instead of playing Bc6 on the 39th turn), but also found a series of below-par moves even when Pragg was not at his best in the climatic stage of the game. Carlsen was so upset with himself that he resigned without waiting to see if Pragg made the winning move or blundered.


As the Norwegian star leaned on the adjoining table, his shaking legs and neck underlined his disenchantment with his performance. In the process, Pragg (Elo 2732) underlined that when one is not playing enough classical games (Carlsen at 2840), the rating difference doesn’t indicate difference in active strength.


Summary after R3


● Alireza Firouzja led with 7.5 points after beating Gukesh (3.5) from a lost position.
● Divya Deshmukh has (4.5) has won all her three Armageddons as she trailed Bibisara Assaubayeva (5.5).
● Vincent Keymer (3) lost all his Armageddon games and sat second-last despite no defeat in the classical phase. Ditto Ju Wenjun in the women’s section.
● Gukesh too was without a win in classical.
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