Vidit Gujrathi hands Magnus Carlsen 1st loss of Chess Pro League

Magnus Carlsen bangs his desk in frustration as he misses a checkmate to lose to Vidit Gujrathi as India Yogis beat Canada Chess Brahs

Vidit Gujrathi, Magnus Carlsen, Chess Pro League, Vidit Gujrathi beat Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen seemed absolutely frustrated with the loss, banging his desk in despair. (Videograb)

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In what was an upset of all upsets, India’s chess Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi –playing for Indian Yogis – notched up the biggest win of his career, beating five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen – playing for Canada Chess Brahs – in a Pro Chess League encounter on Tuesday.

What’s even more impressive is that the 28-year-old India managed the feat playing with black pieces.

Carlsen seemed absolutely frustrated with the loss, banging his desk in despair.

Staring down the barrel of a 5.5-6.5 deficit, the Yogis clutched up with a 4-0 final round drubbing over the Canada Chessbrahs where Gujrathi overcame Carlsen after the latter missed a checkmate in three.

An ecstatic Vidit said after the game: “We fought very hard, and I think the cherry on top for me was for sure to defeat Magnus.”

Just defeated the GOAT, World champion, Magnus Carlsen!! :) https://t.co/Ym2w6svF6K

— Vidit Gujrathi (@viditchess) February 21, 2023

The Yogis named a team with an average age of 21, hoping to utilize their prodigies to take points from the popular Chessbrahs.

The GM Aman Hambleton-led Chessbrahs started with a bang and won their first round 2.5-1.5 and second with a 3-1 score. GM Razvan Preotu once again proved to be a valuable asset after winning his opening games against GMs Raunak Sadhwani and Vidit respectively.
GM Aryan Tari also started strongly and defeated IM Vaishali Rameshbabu in round two after taking advantage of a superior pawn structure

Within reach of a match win with a round to spare, the Chessbrahs set out to gain the three points required to secure the win. Despite Carlsen making a statement with a 21-move miniature on board one with the black pieces against Sadhwani, the Yogis managed to flip the momentum and win 3-1.

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Vidit’s win over Tari was crucial for the Yogis. The Yogis rode the wave of momentum heading into the fourth round and bamboozled the Chessbrahs with a remarkable 4-0 score that pushed them to a match-winning 9.5-6.5.

IM R Vaishali, the sister of Indian teenage sensation R Praggnanandhaa, put on a masterclass to overcome FM Jennifer Yu’s Petrov Defense and checkmated her in just 27 moves while IM Aronyak Ghosh and Sadhwani comfortably defeated Preotu and Tari respectively.

The most stunning result of the day was undoubtedly Vidit’s win over Carlsen. While Vidit did benefit from Carlsen missing checkmate in three, he did well to exploit a tactical oversight by the Norwegian.

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