Chess Player R Praggnanandhaa
Alacoque Whitchurch
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (born 10 August 2005) is an Indian chess prodigy and chess grandmaster. As of 20 June 2024,[update] Praggnanandhaa is ranked No. 8 in the world by the International Chess Federation.[1] Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali are the first brother and sister to earn GM titles.[2] They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the Candidates Tournament.[3]
Praggnanandhaa was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on 10 August 2005.[4] His father, Rameshbabu, works as a branch manager at TNSC Bank,[5] and his mother, Nagalakshmi, is a homemaker.[6] His elder sister, R Vaishali, is also a chess grandmaster.[7]
In 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest international master in history, at the age of 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days.[9][10] He achieved his first grandmaster norm at the World Junior Chess Championship in November 2017, finishing fourth with 8 points.[11]
He gained his second norm at the Heraklion Fischer Memorial GM norm tournament in Greece on 17 April 2018.[12] On 23 June 2018 he achieved his third and final norm at the Gredine Open in Urtiji, Italy, by defeating Luca Moroni in the eighth round to become, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days, the then second-youngest person ever to achieve the rank of grandmaster (Sergey Karjakin attained the title at 12 years and 7 months).[13] He is the sixth-youngest person ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM), behind Abhimanyu Mishra,[14] Sergey Karjakin, Gukesh D, Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, and Javokhir Sindarov.[15]
In January 2018, Praggnanandhaa tied for third place with GM Alder Escobar Forero and IM Denys Shmelov in the Charlotte Chess Center's Winter 2018 GM Norm Invitational held in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a score of 5.0/9. [17]
In April 2021, Praggnanandhaa won the Polgar Challenge, the first leg (out of four) of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, a rapid online event organized by Julius Baer Group and Chess24.com for young talents.[21] He scored 15.5/19, 1.5 points ahead of the next best placed competitors.[22] This win helped him qualify for the next Meltwater Champions Chess Tour on 24 April 2021, where he finished in 10th place with a score of 7/15 (+4-5=6), including wins against Teimour Radjabov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Sergey Karjakin, and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen as well as a draw against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.[23]
Praggnanandhaa played in the Masters section of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022, winning games against Andrey Esipenko, Vidit Gujrathi and Nils Grandelius, finishing in 12th place with a final score of 5.
On 20 February 2022, he became the third Indian player (after Anand and Harikrishna) to win a game against World Champion Magnus Carlsen in any time format, in the online Airthings Masters rapid tournament of the Champions Chess Tour 2022, with a 15+10 time control.[24][25] The record has since broken by Gukesh D, on 16 October 2022.[26][27]
In January 2023, Praggnanandhaa played in the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2023. He defeated a 2800-rated grandmaster, Ding Liren, his first time playing, so in a classical game.[32] He ended the tournament in 9th place with a score of 6/13.[33]
In the Chess World Cup 2023, 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa became the world's youngest player to reach the Chess World Cup final, defeating[34] Fabiano Caruana in tie-breaks in the semi-final. He also became the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to reach the final in Chess World Cup history. His play[35] against former classical World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen in the final resulted in a defeat in the rapid tie-breaks, securing him second place and qualification for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. He was seconded during that tournament by Russian grandmaster Peter Svidler.[36]
Praggnanandhaa placed 5th out of 8 participants in the 2024 Candidates Tournament, getting 7 points out of 14. Additionally, in the 3rd round of the Norway Chess 2024 tournament, he defeated Magnus Carlsen for the first time in a classical 'over the board' match.[37]
GM-elect Vaishali Rameshbabu has clinched one of India's most prestigious awards thanks to her chess prowess, while her brother GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu has secured new backing from an Indian billionaire. Their maestro trainer GM R.B Ramesh is also soaking up the spotlight with an award.
India continues to celebrate its chess stars just shy of two months since the announcement of a world championship move coupled with a substantial financial boost for their top players. In the past week alone, three pivotal figures in the Indian chess scene notched up three distinguished awards, with one securing a fresh sponsorship deal.
On Tuesday, Vaishali was presented with "India's Sports Oscar," the Arjuna Award. The recipients of the second-highest sporting honor of the country are selected by a committee for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" and for demonstrating "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline."
Vaishali received the award after a year in which she was voted Chess.com's Woman Player of the Year. She secured her final grandmaster norm in the Qatar Masters open tournament in October, and in the final days of December she crossed the 2500 mark, fulfilling the last requirement to become India's 84th grandmaster.
Vaishali joins a long list of chess players to receive the Arjuna Award since India's legendary IM Manuel Aaron was the first to receive it in 1961. However, she is only the fifth chess player to receive the award since 2010, with it last given to her brother Praggnanandhaa and IM Kulkarni Bhakti in 2022.
It wasn't the last recognition for the family. Praggnanandhaa has won Indian hearts and been honored with the CNN News-18 award for Rising Sports Stars category, where he outclassed cricketeers, a professional wrestler, and a women's hurdler.
If that wasn't enough, the wonderboy scored another major financial touchdown thanks to Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, currently ranked second on Forbes' list of the richest Indians and 16th worldwide.
Super-coach GM Ramesh RB was also honored with the Dronacharya Award in the category "Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games." Recipients receive a cash prize of $19,000 and are honored for having done "outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabled sportspersons to excel in international events" in the last four years.
Ramesh runs Chess Gurukul Chess Academy, a school that has produced several international chess champions from Indian chess capital Chennai, including Praggnanandhaa. The 47-year-old has also been a coach for some of the nation's top players for more than a decade.
"It's a big honor and I feel humbled to be recognized by this award. I just hope that this will inspire more trainers from India to give all their best and produce a lot of champions for our country," he told Chessbase India.
The recognition of some of the key figures of Indian chess should be valuable for a nation that boasts five players in the Candidates tournaments in Toronto this April. GM Gukesh Dommaraju and GM Vidit Gujrathi will compete with Praggnanadhaa in the Open, while Vaishali will be accompanied by Humpy in the Women's Candidates.
Tarjei Svensen is a Norwegian chess journalist who worked for some of the country's biggest media outlets and appeared on several national TV broadcasts. Between 2015 and 2019, he ran his chess website mattogpatt.no, covering chess news in Norwegian and partly in English.
In 2020, he was hired by Chess24 to cover chess news, eventually moving to Chess.com as a full-time chess journalist in 2023. He is also known for his extensive coverage of chess news on his X/Twitter account.
Reactions poured in from various social media platforms after Indian chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen, the reigning five-time world chess champion, in the second round of the Superbet rapid and blitz chess tournament. Anand Mahindra also congratulated the chess prodigy for his remarkable win.
After Mahindra lauded the Indian chess prodigy, individuals suggested rewarding him with vehicles from the Mahindra lineup, proposing models like the XUV400 and X700. Many even congratulated Praggnanandhaa on his win. Some even lauded him as a "genius" and a trailblazer who sets exemplary standards in the world of chess.
In 2023, he achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the youngest player to reach the Chess World Cup final. He defeated Fabiano Caruana in tie-breaks in the semi-final to advance. Interestingly, he also became the second Indian player after Viswanathan Anand to reach the final in Chess World Cup history.
Teenaged Indian chess superstar R. Praggnanandhaa defeated world champion Ding Liren of China in the fourth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, a win which also helped him surpass the legendary Viswanathan Anand as the top-rated Indian player.
After the victory late on Tuesday night, the 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa has 2748.3 points as against 2748 of five-time world champion Anand in the FIDE live ratings. The world chess body publishes the ratings at the start of each month.
The teenaged Indian GM has been in good form in recent times, having finished runner-up in the World Cup to Magnus Carlsen last year to qualify for the Candidates tournament to be held in April to identify the challenger to Liren.
The Masters group saw Dutch player Anish Giri emerge as the sole leader heading into the first rest day. Giri's endgame prowess secured him victory against teenaged Indian GM D. Gukesh to take him to 3.5 points.
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