Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the chess prodigy from India, will face Magnus Carlsen, the top-ranked player in the world, in the World Cup final of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), which will begin on Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa defeated world number three Hikaru Nakamura of the United States and world number two Fabiano Caruana of the United States on his way to the final.
Since famous Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand won his second world title in 2002, the 18-year-old from Chennai in the chess-crazy southern state of Tamil Nadu has been competing for the title. In his 12-year reign at the top of the chess world rankings, Carlsen has failed to capture the championship.
The younger rival has defeated the older rival on several occasions, most notably at the Airthings Masters rapid chess competition in February 2022. Before another Indian adolescent, Donnarumma Gukesh beat Carlsen in October, the 16-year-old was the youngest player to ever defeat him.
The celebration following Praggnanandhaa’s World Cup semifinal victory was led by Indian chess master Anand. He praised his young countryman in a message on X, the social networking website that replaced Twitter, with the words “What a performance!”
Chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa:
The news quickly spread throughout India, where sports figures and famous cricket players posted congratulations. Ravichandran Ashwin, an Indian cricketer, called the 18-year-old “an inspiration to many”.
Praggnanandhaa’s ascent to popularity started in 2016, when he turned 10 and became the youngest International Master in history, having already been singled out as a potential future star by local chess officials.
Praggnanandhaa, who was raised in the shadow of his sister Vaishali Rameshbabu, a chess champion in the area, started playing the game when he was three years old with encouragement from his parents.
He achieved the third-highest chess title, the FIDE Master title, by the age of seven, after the Grandmaster and International Master titles. Before the final, R Ananthram, a chess arbiter from Chennai, told Al Jazeera on the phone that the player had always seemed very tactically sound and had been playing in local chess tournaments since he was a very young age.
“His mother constantly makes it a point to accompany him to international games, and despite their modest upbringing, the entire family is committed to helping him become a global champion,” the speaker stated.
So, this was all about chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa. Also read, Urvashi Rautela unveils Cricket World Cup 2023 Trophy.
