Sep 3 – R. Praggnanandhaa (ELO rating 2,727), an eighteen-year-old Indian chess Grandmaster (GM), became the second Indian, after former world champion GM Viswanathan Anand, to enter the Candidates Tournament, which will be held in Canada next year.
And he did it in style at the recently concluded FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, knocking out world Nos. 2 and 3 — GM Hikaru Nakamura (2,787) and Fabiano Caruana (2,782) of the United States, respectively — before losing in a tie-breaker to world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen (2,835) of Norway.
Praggnanandhaa is now keeping Indian aspirations for the chess world crown alive, as the winner of the Candidates Tournament will face China’s Liren Ding (2,780).
“He is not overawed by his opponent’s stature or rating. When he came to me as a seven-year-old, he used to believe that an opponent is just an opponent, higher or lower rated. If he is a higher-rated player, it is an opportunity to learn, and if he is a lower-rated player, then play carefully. All the top-rated players started with a low rating, and this has been drilled into his mind and he follows that,” Ramesh said.
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Interestingly, both Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen were competing in their first World Cup tournament, with one winning and the other finishing second.
Ramesh was invited by Praggnanandhaa’s father Rameshbabu, a banker, to train his son and elder daughter, as well as lady GM R. Vaishali, at a party organised to honour the young champion who had just won the global U-8 title.
Praggnanandhaa has been under Ramesh’s control for nearly a decade.
“At that time, Vaishali was stronger. The sister-brother duo realised that they are talented in chess and also understood the importance of hard work and had the mind set for that,” Ramesh said.
According to him, before Praggnanandhaa became a GM, he was weak in the opening moves and frequently ran out of time.
Praggnanandhaa, a very good positional player, would compensate for the weak openings in the middle game and sail through, Ramesh noted.
Praggnanandhaa focused on his openings after becoming a GM, and he is now considered an expert as well as one of the top end-game players, according to Ramesh.
Even after reaching new heights, their accomplishment did not enter their minds, as they remained as simple as before.
After celebrating his birthday on August 10 in Baku, Praggnanandhaa earned himself a terrific double birthday present by finishing second in the World Cup and qualifying for the Candidates Tournament.
Praggnanandhaa’s ratings rose as a result of his outstanding performance at the recently concluded World Cup, with him entering the top 20 club in the world in the open category and rising to third in the juniors’ area.
Praggnanandhaa’s journey began at home, watching his elder sister Vaishali play chess.
