R Praggnanandhaa
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Achievements
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.”
