Twitter Goes Crazy as 16-Year-Old Indian Becomes Youngest to Defeat Chess No 1 Magnus Carlsen

Indian teenage prodigies have been on fire in the chess world this year. Not one, but three players, all under 20, have beaten top-ranked Magnus Carlsen. First, there was Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa who, aged 16, defeated the World No 1 in February. Then there was 19-year-old Arjun Erigaisi this month. Now, a 16-year-old has got the better of him.

Twitter went into overdrive after India's Donnarumma Gukesh made history on Sunday night, becoming the youngest chess player to defeat world champion Magnus Carlsen.

At 16 years, 4 months, and 20 days, Gukesh bettered the record earlier held by Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa who triumphed over the Norwegian at the Airthings Masters earlier this year.

Gukesh, whose victory took place at Aimchess US Rapid online tournament, also became only the second 16-year-old to beat Carlsen after Praggnanandhaa's win in February.

Since his spectacular performance, Gukesh has been the toast of social media.

Though some put his victory on a par with winning the "cricket world cup", others dubbed him the "future of chess" in India.

"India's 16-year-old Gukesh has defeated World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. A few hours ago, India's 19-year-old Arjun Erigaisi defeated Magnus Carlsen. A few months ago, India's 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen. This is nothing less than winning Cricket World Cup," a fan wrote on Twitter.

"Gukesh becomes the youngest player to beat magnificent Magnus Carlsen. Beating the legend is a badge of honor for any chess player and in doing this Gukesh beat Praggnanandhaa to become the youngest player in the world," another added.

"Just to put the magnitude of this victory in context, Magnus ...is considered the BEST player ever to play this sport, a 1200+ year sport. GUKESH is the Indian Prodigy who beats him at age 16. I'll leave it there," a third elaborated.

This wasn't the only upset Carlsen suffered during the weekend: hours before Gukesh defeated him, the five-time world champion was also mown down by Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi.

Erigaisi's victory over Carlsen came in round seven of the tournament after registering wins over Nils Grandelius of Sweden, and the American Daniel Naroditsky.

His winning streak came to an end against Jan-Krzysztof Duda of Poland as the Indian only managed to draw the game.

The Aimchess Rapid online tournament features 16 participants, including Carlsen and five Indians.