R Praggnanandhaa
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Achievements
2016- 23
August 25, 2023: The Times of India
● Became youngest International Master (IM) at the age of 10 years and 9 months in May 2016, beating by over a year the record previously held by Sergey Karjakin. (In Nov 2019, Abhimanyu Mishra beat Prag’s record of becoming the youngest IM by 17 days).
● Became second youngest Grand Master (GM) after Sergey Karjakin at the age of 12 years and 10 months in June 2018.
● Became second-youngest to cross the 2600 Elo rating at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 24 days in December 2019.
● Won the Polgar Challenge in April 2021, which helped him qualify for the next Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, where he finished in 10th place with a score of 7/15.
● Entered the Chess World Cup 2021 as the 90th seed. Defeated GM Gabriel Sargissian 2-0 in round 2 and advanced to round 4 after defeating GM Michael Krasenkow in the rapid tiebreaks in round 3. Was eliminated in the 4th round by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
● Became only the second player from the country after Viswanathan Anand to play in the FIDE World Cup final in Aug 2023. Lost the summit clash to Norway’s World No.1 Magnus Carlsen.
● Turned 18 on Aug 10, after the tournament started, making him the youngest WC finalist ever.
● Only player ever to face No. 1, 2, and 3 seeds in a single World Cup.
2018/ second youngest Grandmaster in the world
Shilarze Saharoy, June 24, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
Praggnanandhaa became the country's youngest Grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days
In 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest International Master at the age of 10 years, 10 months and 19 days
Ukraine's Serget Karjakin remains the youngest ever Grandmaster
Chennai lad R Praggnanandhaa created history as he became the second youngest Grandmaster in the world at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine had become the youngest Grandmaster at 12 years, seven months back in 1990.
Praggnanandhaa has been playing some flawless chess in Gredine Open in Ortisei, Italy. He has accounted for some fine wins under his belt, including defeating Iran youngster Aryan Gholami. On Saturday, Praggnandhaa beat Italian GM Luca Moroni Jr in the eighth round. However, it was not enough for the youngster to earn his third GM norm.
In the ninth round, Praggnanandhaa had to play an opponent above the rating of 2482 to achieve the norm. Fortunately he was drawn with Pruijssers Roeland of the Netherlands, whose rating was 2514. Praggnanandhaa now becomes the second chess player to become a GM before the age of 13.
n the game against Moroni, Praggnanandhaa got an advantage right out of the opening. He didn't let the advantage slip away and played powerful attacking chess to convert the point. Moroni buckled under the pressure in the middlegame, handing the match to Praggnanandhaa.
Currently Croatian GM Saric Ivan leads the points table after eighth round while Praggnanandhaa sits at the second spot.
Praggnanandhaa had already achieved his first GM norm in the World Juniors 2017, and he achieved his second GM norm at a closed round-robin tournament in Greece. He had also crossed 2500 Elo rating points.
Dec: 2nd youngest to cross 2600 Elo rating
RS Prasad, Dec 6, 2019 Times of India
R Praggnanandhaa is in the middle of a superb run at the ongoing London Classic where he leads the field with 6.5 points after 7 rounds. The nine-round competition will see Praggu take on compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram — who is on 6 points — in the penultimate round. Praggu’s seventh round win over French GM Jules Moussard helped him become the youngest Indian and second youngest in the world to cross the 2600 ELO rating. At 14 years, 3 months and 24 days, Praggu bettered the feat of GM Nihal Sarin. Nihal was 14 years and 10 months old when he crossed the 2600 mark in May this year.
Praggu’s consistent performances in the tournament have earned him 16 rating points. John Burke of the USA holds the record for the youngest ever to achieve this feat at 14 years and 2 months back in September 2015.
After crossing the 2500 mark in September 2017, Praggu had only managed to add 40 rating points over the next two years. But in the last few months he has come back with a vengeance. RB Ramesh, Praggu’s long-time coach, felt the youngster — in recent times — has become bolder with his moves. “During the world youth and world junior championships in October, I was impressed with his style of play. He has become a lot bolder with his moves. Earlier, he would be a little defensive, but now he is taking more risks. In cricketing terms — Praggu earlier used to enjoy playing Tests, but is now embracing T20s as well,” Ramesh told TOI.
2019: London Classic: joint-winner
Prasad RS, Dec 8, 2019 Times of India
The last few days have been eventful for Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa. The 14-year-old, who became the second youngest in the world to cross the 2600 ELO rating on Thursday, was crowned the jointwinner at the London Classic with 7.5 points from 9 rounds. Praggu shared the spoils with Australian GM Anton Smirnov. Praggu drew his final round with Sahaj Grover late on Friday in the final round of the competition. Praggu’s city-mate Aravindh Chithambaram finished third with 7 points. Praggu’s sister R Vaishali ended with 6.5 points.
This is Praggu’s third tournament victory in 2019. He had won the Xtracon Open in Denmark in July. He followed that up by clinching the World Youth championships in Mumbai in October. “Each tournament win is special. In this competition, I crossed the 2600 rating and that gave me a lot of self-belief,” Praggu told TOI. Playing without fear has has helped the youngster make a mark. “If you look at my games at the London Classic, I have looked to be bolder. Playing fearlessly and being more creative were important,” Praggu added.
Praggu singled out his penultimate-round clash against Aravindh as a memorable one in this event. “We both regularly play each other during our training sessions and know each other’s games well. It was a match that went down to the wire before we split points.”
2022
Beats world champion Carlsen
Prasad RS , February 23, 2022: The Times of India
Sixteen-year-old R Praggnanandhaa isn’t an unknown commodity in Indian chess circles. But what he did made the world of 64 squares sit up and take note.
The young GM from Chennai became only the third Indian to beat world champ Magnus Carlsen after the legendary Viswanathan Anand and top star P Harikrishna. Praggu’s win in 39 moves came in the Airthings Masters, the opening leg of the Champions Chess Tour, which is a 16-player online rapid competition.
The contest turned in Praggu’s favour when the Norwegian — playing with white — committed an error in the 32nd move. The chess engines immediately showed a huge advantage in black’s favour. Praggu made sure he capitalised on Carlsen’s mistake and walked away with a victory seven moves later.
2022: Praggu beats World No. 13rd time this year
Prasad RS, August 23, 2022: The Times of India
Chennai: R Praggnanandhaa seems to be at his best when playing World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. After having beaten the Norwegian at the Airthings Masters in February and the Chessable Masters in May this year, Praggu got the better of Carlsen 4-2 in the final round of Miami’s FTX Crypto Cup — an online event part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
The super show notwithstanding, he finished second, taking home $37,000. Carlsen won the event with 16 points as opposed to Praggu’s 15. The 17-year-old prodigy said there is always an extra impetus to win when he takes on Carlsen. “It is a big motivation each time I play him because he is such a tough player. You have to be on top of your game facing Carlsen,” he told TOI. Carlsen went into the last round with a two-point lead and needed only a win or draw in the first four rapid games to become the champion. The encounter began with the first two rapid games in which the two players split points. The 31-year-old world champion won the third rapid game and with it the title.
‘Feisty Praggu showed nerves of steel against Carlsen’
India’s R Praggnanandhaawas down one game in his final-round encounter against world chess champion Magnus Carlsen in the FTX Crypto Cup in Miami on Sunday, when he spectacularly turned the tables. Having lost a chance to clinch the title with the thirdgame loss, Praggu achieved the next best thing — finish the event on a high. The 17-year-old Indian won the fourth rapid clash in 51 moves to take the encounter into the tiebreakers. Praggu won both tie-breaker games to eventually win the match. Praggu revealed that his motivation levels dipped after losing a chance to win the event following the reversal in the third rapid game. “It was disappointing to not bag the tournament after having done well in the initial rounds. But I tried to have fun in the r emaining games (against Carlsen) and I am happy to have won against him and eventually finish second,” Praggu told TOI. The Norwegian maestro, on his part, was relieved to have come out on top. “This game was very nervy — I think for both of us. Today, I haven’t been able to find a rhythm at all,” Carlsen told the official broadcast. For Praggu’s long-time coach R B Ramesh, the youngster’s resilience stood out. “Praggu showed nerves of steel and made fewer mistakes during difficult situations. The best quality about him is his ability to make a comeback after a loss. He is learning a lot by taking on players of such high quality. It will do a world of g ood for him going forward,” Ramesh said. Praggu, who played a key role in India B team winning bronze at the Olymp iad held in Chennai earlier this month, will next feature in the Dubai Open from August 26 to September 5. “It is another important tournament for me, and I hope to do well there,” Praggu said.
2023
Hungary
July 20, 2023: The Times of India
Praggnanandhaa wins chess meet in Hungary Budapest: Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa emerged champion in the V Geza Hetenyi Memorial chess tournament, here on Wednesday. The 17-year-old GM scored 6.5 points to finish clear first in the 10-player event. After nine rounds of play, he ended up a point ahead of M Amin Tabatabaei (Iran) and Russia’s Sanan Sjugirov. Praggnanandhaa posted 5 wins, drew 3 games and suffered only 1 defeat in the tournament.
