Praggnandhaa serves first defeat to Magnus Carlsen in the Freestyle Grand Slam Las Vegas Tour

Praggnandhaa, the teenage GM from India has shown off his flexibility and stability across formats in 2025 and has now served World No.1 Magnus Carlsen his first defeat in the Freestyle Grand Slam Las Vegas Tour. 

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Praggnandhaa maintained his pace and strategy while Carlsen played bold and imploded, regretting the chance to bounce in the game. India No.1 played white and cleverly maneuvered through his patience, while Magnus with black was mustering a resignation while one move from Praggnandhaa closed the game, enroute to quarterfinals.  

The game affected so much as Magnus lost the following game with USA’s Wesly So, even after holding the winning position. Levon Aronian also defeated Magnus twice in tie-breaks to advance into the quarterfinals. 

Along with Praggnandhaa who then defeated Vincent Keymer and WGM Bibisara Assaubayeva, Arjun Erigasi has qualified for the Quarterfinals. Magnus can at stretch get a third place, winning the smaller brackets in the tournament. With 8 GMs grouped in two fighting for the top 4 spots, and the bottom four fighting in the lower brackets. 

Gukesh D withdrew from the Freestyle Grand Slam Tournament as he was prioritising preparations for the upcoming tournaments like the Sinquefield Cup, as a part of the Grand Chess Tour. 

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