Pranav Venkatesh (born 13 October 2006), also known as Buddy Pranav, is an Indian
chess grandmaster.
Chess career
Pranav began playing chess at the age of 6, and had several coaches including Visweswaran Kameswaran. He obtained his first two GM norms at the Serbia Open in 2021 and in the Vezerkepzo GM tournament in
Budapest,
Hungary in June 2022.
In August 2022, Pranav obtained his final norm by winning the Limpedea Open in
Baia Mare,
Romania championship, becoming the 75th grandmaster from India and the 27th grandmaster from the state of
Tamil Nadu.
In October 2022, he played for India in the World U-16 Youth Olympiad (alongside
Pranesh M, Harshad S, Rohit S, Mrittika Mallick, and Boramanikar Tanisha S), alongside competing in the
Magnus Carlsen Academy Challenge, winning both events. He later won chess24's Challengers Chess Tour by defeating
Raunak Sadhwani
Raunak Sadhwani (born 22 December 2005) is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became a grandmaster at the age of 13. He is the 10th youngest player in history and the 4th youngest Indian to be awarded the title as of December 202 ...
in the final round.
In October 2023, he competed in the 38th edition of the
European Chess Club Cup with Offerspill Sjakklub. Led by Magnus Carlsen, Offerspill Sjakklubb triumphed, after scoring a decisive last-round victory against Asnieres – Le Grand Echiquier (France). Pranav's overall performance of 5/7, including victories against
Jorden van Foreest
Jhr. Jorden van Foreest (born 30 April 1999) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He was Dutch Chess Champion in 2016, and won the Tata Steel Masters in 2021. Van Foreest is the No. 2 ranked Dutch player behind Anish Giri.
Chess career
Introduced ...
and
Grigoriy Oparin
Grigoriy Alekseyevich Oparin (russian: Григо́рий Алексе́евич Опа́рин; born 1 July 1997) is a Russian-American chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 2013.
Career
Oparin was awarded the title ...
in the last two rounds, earned him a tweet from the world no.1 Magnus Carlsen - "Pranav is buddy and buddy is Pranav".
In January 2024, Pranav competed in the fifth edition of the Puzzles World Championships, hosted by chess.com, finishing 4th place overall. However, he produced the strongest resistance to eventual (5-time) winner
Ray Robson, achieving a score of 3-5 sets with an aggregate puzzle score of 416-430.
References
Living people
2006 births
Indian chess players
Chess Grandmasters
Sportspeople from Bangalore
Chess Olympiad competitors
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