On Wednesday, cricket star Sachin Tendulkar praised Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the chess prodigy who defeated World Champion Ding Liren to take the top rank among Indian players. Using his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Tendulkar congratulated Praggnanandhaa on his incredible victory. In addition, he wished the 18-year-old luck in his next games and urged him to represent India proudly in international chess competitions. Scroll down to read Sachin Tendulkar Is All Praise For R Praggnanandhaa.
Sachin Tendulkar Is All Praise For R Praggnanandhaa
The phenomenal Indian chess player Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu accomplished a historic first by defeating the current world champion, Viswanathan Anand, making history. He defeated Ding Liren of China in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, to achieve this incredible victory. The youthful chess prodigy has garnered the adoration of cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar.
“Congratulations to @rpraggnachess for this incredible victory over Ding Liren, the world champion. You have not only become the best player in India at the young age of 18, but you have also dominated the game. Warmest regards for your impending trials. Tendulkar remarked on X, “Continue to bring glory to India in chess on the international stage.”
“We are proud of @rpraggnachess for their incredible victory over Ding Liren, the world champion. You have not only become the best player in India at the young age of 18, but you have also dominated the game.
Warmest regards for your impending trials. Continue to elevate India’s stature.
— January 17, 2024, Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
The 18-year-old overcame the renowned Viswanathan Anand to claim the top rank in the chess tournament, the 2024 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, on Wednesday by defeating China’s Liren with the black pieces.
Praggnanandhaa expressed his amazement at the result, saying he didn’t anticipate the world champion to be eliminated in such a manner.
“I thought I quickly reached equality, but for him, everything seemed to start going wrong after that. According to Praggnanandhaa, “Even after I won the pawn, I felt it should be holdable,” as Chess.com reported.
After this victory, Praggnanandhaa surpassed Viswanathan Anand in FIDE’s live ratings to become the number-one chess player in India. His score of 2748.3 was just higher than Anand’s 2748. Notably, this triumph was Praggnanandhaa’s second straight over Ding Liren in the same tournament; in their first meeting, Ding was ranked second in the world.
The prodigy from Chennai, who is just eighteen years old, created history by taking the top rank in Indian chess. Before this, Praggnanandhaa had made it to the final of a Chess World Cup, making history as the first Indian to do so since Anand. This achievement also earned him a place in the Candidates event, which is an essential stage leading up to a World Championship match.
After beginning to play at the age of five, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest grandmaster in India and the second-youngest grandmaster in the world at the age of twelve in 2018.
After Javokhir Sindarov, Gukesh D, Abhimanyu Mishra, and Sergey Karjakin, he is the fifth-youngest grandmaster in history. Interestingly, his older sister R Vaishali is also a Grandmaster; hence, the two of them are the first brother and sister GM team in history.
