It's not every day that one joins a list alongside the names of Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, while almost all of India was sleeping, became only the third person from the country to defeat Magnus Carlsen in tournament play, and hasn't looked back since at the Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament.
Praggnanandhaa is, of course, not new to scaling such peaks. A few months before turning 13, he became the world's second youngest grandmaster. And as you'd expect, his life pretty much revolves around chess.
Hailing from Padi, in the suburbs of west Chennai, an industrial township, Praggnanandhaa has crisscrossed the globe, leaving his mark on the sport, catching opponents like Wesley So by surprise, along with exchanging notes on moves with none other than his hero Viswanathan Anand.
"Pragga is really very good, and in the future, I think I need to focus more while playing him. Because he looks so young and harmless, you tend to let your mind wander off, and that is a mistake," Wesley So had told the website Chessbase.com.
"When we were going over the games, we saw that he'd played a game at the last tournament [Gredine Open] which looked identical to an endgame I had about seven years back. So we compared notes to see how it would be with new twists. It was nice to learn something," Anand had told ESPN in 2018.
Where Did it All Begin?
Much before the win against Carlsen and the exchanges with So and Anand, the tryst with chess began at home for Praggnanandhaa with his sister Vaishali, who is his in-house coach and sparring partner. Vaishali, a grandmaster herself, is among the first persons whom her brother consults with about his game. Praggnanandhaa was less than four years old when his journey in chess began alongside his sister.
The duo's parents however weren't the biggest fans of the game, and in fact, the children were enrolled into an academy close by to cut down on their television time.
From friendly games together, the brother-sister duo has moved on to gruelling sessions on the instructions of coach RB Ramesh. "Coach (RB Ramesh) has told us to play every match at home like it is a real match, as if we are playing in a tournament. So, we become opponents," Praggnanandhaa was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. His sister noted, "When he's winning, he'll say it's a real match, but when he's losing, he says it's only a fun match."
Soon enough, those gruelling sessions and hours of studying various moves would see him making impressive moves across the 64 squares. Not for once, though, did the parents expect that chess would become such an integral part of their lives.
"For us, it doesn't matter whether they are grandmasters or international masters. We are just happy that they enjoy what they do," his father Ramesh Babu had told ESPN.
Praggnanadhaa travels to most of his tournaments with his mother, Nagalakshmi, while his father, who has been disabled since his early years due to polio, follows his progress from home.
One Step and Title at a Time
His first title was at the World Youth Chess Championships in 2013 at the U-8 level, when he was 7. A couple of years later, the U-10 title was his and Praggnanandhaa was on his way. In May 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the world's youngest IM at just 10 years and 9 months, before achieving the first grandmaster norm at the World Junior Chess Championship in November 2017. Less than a year later, in June 2018, he achieved his third and final norm at the Gredine Open, at the age of 12 years, 10 months, and 13 days, the then second-youngest person ever to achieve the rank of grandmaster.
The expectations and celebrations were about to pile on for him, but Praggnanandhaa thinks one step and one move at a time. And that helped him achieve a 2600 Elo rating before the pandemic hit, at the age of 14.
While some of the most well-known names in the sport, like Bobby Fischer, and Anand himself, had found it difficult to motivate themselves after reaching the top, Praggnanandhaa has had no such problems. Since becoming the GM, he trains seven hours a day and mixes that up with a game of table tennis at the Chess Gurukul Academy, located in a quiet corner of Chennai's bustling, commercial T Nagar area. That apart, Praggnanandhaa is more than happy to work on his game late into the night, thinking one move at a time, and is, of course, helped by the fact that the regular school routines don't apply to him.
Ever since becoming a GM, Praggnanandhaa's rise was steady before the COVID-19 pandemic struck and tournaments took a backseat, putting a halt to his progress.
Successor to Viswanathan Anand?
Once he became the GM, the teenager has seen his stock soar in recent years and is highly rated within the chess community. And while the confidence took a hit due to the long break, the win against Carlsen will, no doubt, do him a world of good. Carlsen is, of course, no stranger to the young ace from India, as they had played out a fascinating 80-move draw when they first met in April 2021, with Praggnanandhaa displaying unapparelled fearlessness against the maestro.
So it was hardly a surprise when Anand took him under his wing and helped fine-tune his talent. Anand is glad that his mentorship shows in Praggnanandhaa's play. "I am happy that in many of his games, he has gone for the openings that we have discussed in the group. It is important because even if you fight, you need weapons. You need the right positions to show your best," he told Firstpost.
Always willing to learn more, Praggnanandhaa has also suffered setbacks and near-misses, all of which have toughened him up further.
That Praggnanandhaa managed to do well in the recent Tata Steel Masters event in Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands despite missing his coach (Ramesh), who was down with coronavirus, is also a good indicator of his mental strength. It was his first big break into elite tournaments.
The teenager has often spoken about becoming a world champion, and the win against the Carlsen is undoubtedly one of the steps on the way. V Saravanan, an international master and coach, said the win over Carlsen is a huge turning point for Praggnanandhaa as it will make him more confident about his potential.
"The win will change a lot of things in Praggu...the confidence in his potential will be one of them. The win has ensured a lot of visibility which will give him a lot of opportunities," he told PTI.
With an Elo rating in excess of 2600, the young chess ace is in unchartered territory, and crucial breaks have come about at the right time. His achievements saw support come from PR Venketrama Raja, the founder of the Chennai-based software company Ramco Systems and an erstwhile president of the All India Chess Federation, and an avid chess lover.
Determination, recognition, and support – all of the ingredients are on the table for the fearless Praggnanandhaa, and he's on his way to making big wins a habit, as he makes steady progress, one move at a time, towards realising his dream of becoming a world champion.
(With Inputs from ESPN and Indian Express)
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