A Shocking Surprise: Carlsen Falls to Russian Teenager in International Chess Tournament

The prestigious Tetold Tuesday International Online Rapid Chess Tournament saw former world champion Magnus Carlsen surprisingly fall to a 15-year-old Russian player.

Russian talent Maxim Ivannikov from Moscow defeated Carlsen in the third round of the tournament, playing white and dominating the match from the start, before forcing the Norwegian star to surrender on move 33.

Despite his historic victory, Ivannikov finished 122nd out of 624 participants with 6.5 points from 11 games.

Carlsen finished third with 9.5 points, behind American Hans Niemann (9.5 points) and Indian Pranav Venkatesh, who won the tournament with 10 points.

The best result among the Russian participants was achieved by Dmitri Andreikin, who finished in eighth place (9 points).

Ivannikov is a candidate for international master and holds a FIDE world ranking of 2,184 points, compared to 2,837 points for Norway's Carlsen, who remains the world leader.

The "Tetold Tuesday" tournament, "Tuesday Coronation," is held weekly on Chess.com and requires only players with international titles to participate.

It is played according to the Swiss system, with a time limit of 3 minutes per player, plus one second per move.

Carlsen, 34, held the title of World Classical Chess Champion from 2013 to 2023.

He voluntarily withdrew his title defense in a match against Russia's Yan Nepomniachtchi.

He has also won the World Rapid Chess Championship five times and the World Blitz Championship eight times.

Source: RT - Published on 25-06-2025 - https://ar.rt.com/105dc