The 18-year previous wonderboy has lengthy been seen as a doable successor to the five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand and is actually on the trail to be a chess nice.
A surprising efficiency within the FIDE World Cup in Baku has catapulted him to the Candidates match to find out the challenger to present world champion Ding Liren.
He couldn’t win the World Cup however his stellar giant-killing present introduced chess on the entrance web page of nationwide dailies, including to the recognition of the sport that’s adopted keenly solely in a couple of states in India.
By turning into the one Indian participant after Anand to guide a spot within the Candidates, the Chennai teenager has proved that he would be the title to reckon with in the case of big-ticket chess occasions.
A wonderkid, who took up the game on the age of four-and-a-half, Praggnanandhaa has achieved a number of firsts in his distinguished profession to date.
After coming beneath the wings of Anand, who has taken to mentorship like a duck to water, the rise has been regular for Praggnanandhaa.
By beating Magnus Carlsen, the world No.1 and former classical champion in a web-based match final yr, Praggnanandhaa confirmed that he may soak within the strain and defeat one of the best within the enterprise at their very own recreation.
Although questions stay on his capability within the classical format, the teenaged GM has proven that he has it in him to be within the large league.
Hailing from Chennai, the hotspot of Indian chess, Praggnanandhaa has been within the highlight since he made waves at a younger age.
He gained the nationwide under-7 title to put down the marker and has been on the rise ever since. At 10, he was an Worldwide Grasp and two years later, he grew to become a GM.
Late in 2019, he achieved a ELO score of 2600 at 14 years and three months and seemed to be on the overdrive. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 got here as a pace bump.
Nevertheless, Praggnanandhaa shone in on-line tournaments and saved getting higher. In 2021, he impressed within the Meltwater Champions Tour, scoring victories over prime names like Sergey Karjakin, Teimour Radjabov and Jan-Krzystof Duda and drawing Carlsen.
In 2022, his inventory rose additional when he shocked Carlsen within the Airthings Masters fast match. He grew to become solely the third Indian after Anand and P Harikrishna to win a recreation towards the seemingly unbeatable Carlsen.
Praggnanandhaa’s calm manner when on the desk hides a assured and aggressive participant. He will be fairly a formidable opponent when he sits throughout the desk for a recreation.
And, he has proven nice combating qualities, within the World Cup particularly. Up towards world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura, he confirmed that in abundance and felled a higher-rated opponent.
Then towards Fabiano Caruana, the world No.3, within the semifinal, his defensive capabilities had been to the fore and he got here by way of in a nerve-wracking tie-break.
As Grandmaster M Shyam Sundar, a coach with the Indian staff in Baku for the World Cup, says, “One in all his (Praggnanandhaa’s) largest strengths is his capability to defend unhealthy positions even towards absolutely the elite.”
This stands him in good stead in hostile conditions.
That aside, as Shyam Sundar says, Praggnanandhaa is nice in all codecs and that helped him attain the finals as he was assured within the tie-breaks towards Caruana.
Like Anand, household assist, particularly from his mom, has been an ideal think about his evolution as a participant. His mom Nagalakshmi is a continuing at tournaments that he performs and he appears to feed off her helpful presence.
There’s a feeling that Praggnanandhaa’s opening repertoire shouldn’t be top-notch however he’s fairly a pressure within the fast and blitz codecs and in on-line video games.
He has improved leaps and bounds and with the work put in beneath famous coach R B Ramesh and subsequently Anand (because the mentor), Praggnanandhaa can solely get higher, which will not be excellent news for his rivals.
He has achieved so much at 18 and is already on the trail to greatness. With folks of the stature of Anand and Ramesh to information him, the Chennai participant can be dreaming of turning into the world champion prior to later.
For somebody so proficient, Praggnanandhaa, surprisingly, is but to win the nationwide championship regardless of his different accomplishments.
His efficiency within the FIDE World Cup has turned the highlight firmly on him at the same time as compatriots like D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi too saved reminding the chess world of their very own potential.
