Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (born 10 August 2005) is an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
chess prodigy
The term chess prodigy refers to a young child who possesses an aptitude for the game of chess that far exceeds what might be expected at their age. Their prodigious talent will often enable them to defeat experienced adult players and even title ...
, he earned the
international master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
title at the age of 10, the youngest at the time to do so, and the grandmaster title at age 12, the second-youngest at the time to do so. On 22 February 2022, at the age of 16, he became the youngest player till then to defeat current world champion
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
, when he beat Carlsen in a rapid game at the Airthings Masters
Rapid Chess
Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...
Tournament. (
Gukesh D
Dommaraju Gukesh (born 29 May 2006), better known as Gukesh D, is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest person in history to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in March 2019. On 16 Oc ...
is now holding the record since 16 October 2022)
Chess career
Praggnanandhaa won the
World Youth Chess Championship
The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...
Under-8 title in 2013, earning him the title of
FIDE Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...
at the age of 7. He won the Under-10 title in 2015.
In 2016, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest
international master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
in history, at the age of 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days. He achieved his first grandmaster
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
at the
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...
in November 2017, finishing fourth with 8 points. He gained his second norm at the Heraklion Fischer Memorial GM norm tournament in Greece on 17 April 2018. On 23 June 2018 he achieved his third and final norm at the Gredine Open in
Urtijëi
Urtijëi (; german: St. Ulrich in Gröden ; it, Ortisei ) is a town of 4,637 inhabitants in South Tyrol in northern Italy. It occupies the Val Gardena within the Dolomites, a mountain chain that is part of the Alps.
Geography
Urtijëi borders th ...
, Italy, by defeating Luca Moroni in the eighth round to become, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days, the then second-youngest person ever to achieve the rank of grandmaster (
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken b ...
attained the title at 12 years and 7 months). He is the fifth-youngest person ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM), behind
Abhimanyu Mishra
Abhimanyu Mishra (born February 5, 2009) is an United States of America, American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the grandmaster title on June 30, 2021, at the age of 12 years 4 months and ...
,
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken b ...
,
Gukesh D
Dommaraju Gukesh (born 29 May 2006), better known as Gukesh D, is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest person in history to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in March 2019. On 16 Oc ...
, and
Javokhir Sindarov
Javokhir Sindarov (born 8 December 2005)León Masters in Spain for a four-game rapid match against
Wesley So
Wesley Barbossa So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino and American chess grandmaster and 3-time U.S. Chess Champion (in 2017, 2020, and 2021). He is also a three-time Philippine Chess Champion. On the March 2017 FIDE rating list, he was ran ...
. He defeated So in game one, and after three games the score was tied at 1½–1½. In the last game, So defeated Praggnanandhaa, winning the match 2½–1½.
In January 2018, Praggnanandhaa tied for third place with GM
Alder Escobar Forero
Alder Escobar Forero (born 1977) is a Colombian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2014.
Career
Escobar Forero has represented Colombia in four Chess Olympiads; 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
He played in the Chess Wo ...
and IM Denys Shmelov in the Charlotte Chess Center's Winter 2018 GM Norm Invitational held in
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
, North Carolina, with a score of 5.0/9.
In July 2019, Praggnanandhaa won the
Xtracon Chess Open The Xtracon Chess Open (formerly the Politiken Cup) is an international chess tournament and the main feature event of the annual Copenhagen Chess Festival.
History
Organized by the Copenhagen Chess Federation (KSU), it was originally set up to giv ...
in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
, scoring 8½/10 points (+7–0=3). On 12 October 2019, he won the World Youth Championships in the Under-18 section with a score of 9/11. In December 2019, he became the second-youngest person to achieve a rating of 2600. He did this at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 24 days.
In April 2021, Praggnanandhaa won the Polgar Challenge, the first leg (out of four) of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, a rapid online event organized by Julius Baer Group and Chess24.com for young talents. He scored 15.5/19, 1.5 points ahead of the next best placed competitors. This win helped him qualify for the next Meltwater Champions Chess Tour on 24 April 2021, where he finished in 10th place with a score of 7/15 (+4-5=6), including wins against
Teimour Radjabov
Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; az, Teymur Boris oğlu Rəcəbov, ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster, ranked number 18 in the world
A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster ...
,
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (; born 26 April 1998) is a Polish chess grandmaster. A prodigy, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and 21 days. he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 18 in the world. His personal best rating ...
,
Sergey Karjakin
Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, . (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (formerly representing Ukraine). A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, (until it was eventually taken b ...
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
.
Praggnanandhaa entered the
Chess World Cup 2021
The Chess World Cup 2021 was a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament that took place in Sochi, Russia, beginning 12 July and ending 6 August 2021. It was the 9th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner of this tournament was the Polis ...
as the 90th seed. He defeated GM
Gabriel Sargissian
Gabriel Eduardi Sargissian ( hy, Գաբրիել Էդուարդի Սարգսյան, ''Gabriel Eduardi Sargsyan''; born 3 September 1983) is an Armenian chess grandmaster. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the Chess Olympi ...
2–0 in round 2, and advanced to round 4 after defeating GM
Michał Krasenkow
Michał Krasenkow (born 14 November 1963) is a Polish chess grandmaster, chess trainer and writer. He is one of the strongest Polish chess players since World War II. His playing style is aggressive and he has won many "best game" awards.
Lif ...
in the rapid tiebreaks in round 3. He was eliminated in round four by
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (; born 21 October 1990), often referred to by his initials, MVL, is a French chess grandmaster who is the reigning World Blitz Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2819, Vachier-Lagrave is the seventh-highest r ...
.
Praggnanandhaa played in the Masters section of the
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 is the 84th edition of the annual chess tournament held in Wijk aan Zee. It was held from 14 January to 30 January 2022. No visitors were allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands. Norwegian GM ...
, winning games against
Andrey Esipenko
Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko (russian: Андрей Евгеньевич Есипенко; born 22 March 2002) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He won the European U10 Chess Championship in 2012, and both the European U16 and World U16 Chess Cha ...
,
Vidit Gujrathi
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (born 24 October 1994) is an Indian chess grandmaster. He attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. he is the second highest rated player in India (behind Viswana ...
and
Nils Grandelius
Nils Axel Grandelius (born 3 June 1993 in Lund, Sweden) is a Swedish chess grandmaster. He is the top ranked player of Sweden.
Chess career
FIDE awarded him the titles FIDE Master, in 2007, International Master, in 2008, and Grandmaster in 20 ...
, finishing in 12th place with a final score of 5½.
On 20 February 2022, he became the third Indian player (after Anand and Harikrishna) to win a game against World Champion
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
in any time format, in the online ''Airthings Masters'' rapid tournament of the
Champions Chess Tour 2022
The Champions Chess Tour 2022, known for sponsorship reasons as the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, was a 9-month series of nine online chess tournaments featuring some of the world's top players, who played for a prize money pool of US$1.6 milli ...
, with a 15+10 time control.
At the Chessable Masters online rapid chess tournament in May 2022, he defeated Carlsen once again, his second win over him in 3 months, and advanced to the finals.
He also defeated Carlsen 3 times in the FTX Crypto Cup 2022, finishing second behind Carlsen in the final standings.
Personal life
Praggnanandhaa was born in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
on 10 August 2005. He is the younger sibling of
Woman Grandmaster
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
and
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
R Vaishali. His father works as a branch manager at
TNSC Bank
The Tamil Nadu State Apex Co-operative Bank, also known as TNSC Bank, is an Indian cooperative banking company headquartered in Chennai. It was incorporated in 1905 as an urban cooperative bank. As of 2015, TNSC Bank had 46 branches in Chennai. ...
, and his mother is a homemaker. He studies at Velammal Main Campus in Chennai.