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Meet Praggnanandhaa, the Indian chess grandmaster, who is within touching distance of history at FIDE World Cup
Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian to reach the finals of chess World Cup after Viswanathan Anand.
India have been blessed with quiet a few rising talents in chess and the one currently making headlines globally is 18-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The Indian prodigy on Monday stunned world number three Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreaks to reach the final of the ongoing FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he will meet world number one Magnus Carlsen.
Praggnanandhaa closed the semifinal with a 3.5-2.5 win, also officially sealing a place in the Candidates 2024 tournament, which will be held in Canada. He is also the third youngest player after legendary Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament.
Praggnanandhaa also became the first Indian to reach the finals of Chess World Cup in over two decades. Viswanathan Anand, one of the most popular names in Indian chess community, had won the first two World Cups back in 2000 and 2002.
Anand was quick to celebrate Praggnanandhaa's incredible feat as he tweeted: “Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!”
Praggnanandhaa's rich CV
Born in August 10, 2005, Praggnanandhaa hails from the southern coastal city of Chennai. Praggnanandhaa rose through the ranks at a very young age and became the youngest International Master at the age of 10 years, 10 months and 19 days. Two years later, Praggnanandhaa became the second-youngest Grandmaster in 2018, a record which was broken by fellow Indian D Gukesh in 2019.
Prior to that Praggnanandhaa had won the World Youth Chess Championships Under-8 title in 2013, also making him a FIDE Master when he just seven. He then won the Under-10 title in 2015.
He had also produced a sensational show against Carlsen last year, beating the Norwegian chess grandmaster three consecutive times in rapid and blitz.
In an interaction with Indian Express back in 2016, Praggnanandhaa's coach RB Ramesh had noted: “He has a fantastic memory, which lets him remember his old matches. He knows the mistakes he's made without being told. The way he analyses his games is way beyond his years.”
Chess runs in Praggnanandhaa's family
The young prodigy, who mostly remains away from social media, calls five-time world champion and India’s first Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand as his inspiration.
He is the brother of Vaishali Rameshbabu, also a chess player. Four years elder to Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali was born in June 21, 2001 and has previously won the Girls' World Youth Chess Championship for Under-14s and Under-12s.
She added the Woman International Master's title to her CV in 2016.
The brother-sister duo had won bronze medals in the individual events at the Chess Olympiad held last year in Chennai.
