Bangladesh FIDE Master Naim Haque has made a sensational claim regarding world number one Magnus Carlsen. According to him, a nine-year-old boy named Ryan Rashid Mugdha defeated Carlsen in an online chess tournament. As per him, it happened during a Bullet Brawl game on Chess.com on Saturday when Carlsen was playing against an account that had the name ‘Nayemhaque22’. While the five-time world champion resigned after 50 moves, Haque has said that it was Mugdha, who was playing the game from his account against the chess legend. Carlsen has not reacted to it yet.

Notably, the bullet chess game is a format which gives players just one minute to complete their moves.

“He (Ryan Rashid Mugdha) couldn’t play (in Bullet Brawn) because he doesn’t have a title. So I gave my Chess.com id. He played and beat 5-time world champion and current number 1 chess player in all three formats, Magnus Carlsen,” said FIDE Master Haque in a social media post as claimed by The Indian Express. A FIDE Master (FM) is a title given to chess players by the world body. It’s the third-highest title in chess, after Grandmaster and International Master.

Meanwhile, Mugdha also gave an interview to Bangladeshi media outlet Business Standard and talked about the match in detail.

“The bullet format is my favourite. I love the urgency it brings-you have to think and act very quickly. When I realised I was matched with Carlsen, I was starstruck, but I didn’t back down. After he made a mistake with his queen, I knew I was in a strong position. I played naturally, just as I would against any opponent,” he said.

Meanwhile, coach Haque said, “When Mugdho got his FIDE rating at five, it was a world record at the time. That record was later broken, but it remains a significant achievement.”

Continuing his rapid rise, world champion D Gukesh dethroned compatriot Arjun Erigiasi to become the highest-ranked Indian chess player, at fourth, in the latest FIDE rankings on Thursday. Gukesh, 18, achieved the feat when he logged his second victory in the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee (Netherlands) defeating Vincent Keymer of Germany. Gukesh, who was awarded the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna recently, has amassed 2784 rating points, while Erigaisi, who was the highest-ranked Indian for a long time, has slipped to fifth with 2779.5 rating points.

Norway’s Magnus Carlsen continues to be the undisputed world No.1 with 2832.5 points, followed by United States’ Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura (2802) and country-mate Fabiano Caruana (2798).

Gukesh has been in sublime form ever since he beat China’s Ding Liren to clinch the world title in Singapore in December last year.

He took a break from the game to attend to functions and festivities back home and skipped the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York.

On his return to the board, Gukesh has not lost a single game in Wijk Aan Zee. He has two victories and three draws so far in the tournament with eight rounds still to go.

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and three-time World Women’s Blitz champion Kateryna Lagno occupied the top spot while India’s R Praggnanandhaa took second place at the halfway mark of the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2024 in Kolkata on Saturday. Carlsen concluded the first nine rounds with an impressive 6.5 points out of a possible 9. The Norwegian maestro had a dominant start, but his momentum was halted in round eight by Arjun Erigaisi, who defeated him in spectacular fashion in just 20 moves.

In the final round of the day, Carlsen settled for a draw against Vidit Gujarathi.

Young Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa tailed him closely in second place with 6 points, recovering remarkably after losing his first three games to register six consecutive wins.

Erigaisi and Russia’s Daniil Dubov are tied for third with 5.5 points each.

In the women’s section, Lagno led the field with 7 points, maintaining an undefeated streak with five wins and four draws.

Valentina Gunina trails her by a single point in second place, while Rapid Champion Aleksandra Goryachkina occupies third with 5 points.

Goryachkina had a strong start with three consecutive wins but managed only four draws in the remaining six games.

Standings (Round 9): Open Section: Magnus Carlsen (6.5); R Praggnanandhaa (6); Arjun Erigaisi (5.5); Daniil Dubov (5.5); Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (5); Abdusattorov Nodirbek (4); Wesley So (3.5); Narayanan S L (3.5); Nihal Sarin (3.5) and Keymer Vincent (2).

Women’s Section: Kateryna Lagno (7); Valentina Gunina (6); Aleksandra Goryachkina (5); Divya Deshmukh (4.5); Vantika Agrawal (4.5); Koneru Humpy (4.5); Harika Dronavalli (4); Alexandra Kosteniuk (4); Vaishali R (3.5) and Nana Dzagnidze (2).

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen recorded a flawless performance, securing victories against S L Narayanan, Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi, to take the sole lead at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Tournament in Kolkata on Thursday. Starting the day just half a point behind overnight leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the Norwegian’s masterful play elevated him to the top of the leaderboard with a commanding five points out of a possible six in the ‘Open’ section. Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina too came up with an equally impressive performance in the women’s section to secure the sole lead following three victories on day two.

Her back-to-back wins against India’s Vantika Agrawal and R. Vaishali was followed by a victory over Kateryna Lagno, which took her tally to five points.

Close on Carlsen’s heels is former World Rapid champion Abdusattorov with 4.5 points. The Uzbek prodigy held his own with draws against Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi in rounds 4 and 5, and ended the day with a win over Narayanan, positioning himself as Carlsen’s primary challenger heading into the final day.

In the women’s section, Georgian Grandmaster Nana Dzagnidze is closely trailing Aleksandra with four points. Dzagnidze’s successful day included wins over Vaishali and Koneru Humpy as well as a hard-fought draw with Kateryna Lagno.

India’s D. Harika and Vantika Agrawal, and Valentina Gunina share the third spot with 3.5 points each.

Standings: (Open) Magnus Carlsen 5; Nodirbek Abdusattorov 4.5; Wesley So 3.5; Daniel Dubov and R. Praggnanandhaa 3; SL Narayanan and Vincent Keymer 2.5; Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi 2.

Women: Aleksandra Goryachkina 5; Nana Dzagnidze 4; Vantika Agarwal, D Harika, Valentina Gunina 3.5; Kateryna Lagno 3; Divya Deshmukh 2.5; Koneru Humpy, Alexandra Kosteniuk 2; R Vaishali 1.

Chess great Magnus Carlsen has urged his game’s top sporting body not to readmit Russia and Belarus ahead of a key vote this weekend on whether to restore their membership. Russia and Belarus were booted out of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in 2022 over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, effectively banning the two countries from international competitions. Carlsen was speaking at a FIDE gala in Budapest on Thursday evening, in which he paid tribute to Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov while accepting an award for greatest player of all time.

“In Garry’s honour, I’m sure he would take the opportunity to advise against reinstating the Russian and Belarusian Chess Federation, so that is what I will do as well,” the 33-year-old Norwegian player said.

Kasparov responded in a social media post: “Indeed I would, and do!”

Kasparov is a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has lived in exile for over a decade.

FIDE is set to vote at its general assembly this weekend whether to adopt a controversial Kyrgyz proposal to readmit Russia and Belarus to the sporting body.

The move has drawn controversy in the sport and from Ukraine, whose sports minister Matviy Bidny praised Carlsen in a post on Facebook.

“Sanctions against Russia and Belarus should only be strengthened as long as the war continues, as dictatorial regimes are trying to legitimise the war against Ukraine by using sport and athletes,” he said in a post from Thursday.

Carlsen is a five-time world chess champion, winning consecutive FIDE competitions from 2013 to 2021.