Who is R. Praggnanandhaa?
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa hails from Padi, a town near Chennai. Born on August 10, 2005, Praggnanandhaa is the sibling of Vaishali Rameshbabu, who is a chess Grandmaster and an eminent Indian chess player herself.
He won the World Youth Chess Championship Under-8 title in 2013. He was only seven when he achieved the title of FIDE Master after winning the tournament.
In 2016, he became the youngest International Master in history at the age of 10 years, 10 months and 19 days. Two years later he became the second youngest Grandmaster in the world at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days.
Praggnanandhaa has travelled to more than 30 countries so far to participate in different chess tournaments.
In 2022, he scored a stunning victory over reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in 39 moves at the Airthings Masters chess tournament. He became only the third Indian apart from Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna to have defeated Carlsen in a tournament game.
Praggnanandhaa’s achievements have been praised by the entire sporting community across the globe. Even Sachin Tendulkar congratulated him on his victory over the world champion. Industrialist Anand Mahindra drew a life lesson out of the young chess star’s journey.
How it all started
R. Praggnanandhaa’s interest in chess was sparked when his parents were trying to get his sister away from the TV by luring her to play chess. Her little brother Praggnanandhaa was not even four at the time, but he was hooked to the game and Vaishali began to teach him the moves. Soon, the duo took up chess seriously and started competing.
Praggnanandhaa is known for his fearless and even sacrificial playing style.
Pragg, as he is fondly known, was in the middle of his 11th standard board exams during the recent tournament. He is currently balancing his studies with chess but he aims to become the World Champion in the future.
