R Pragnanandhaa: challenger to World No 1 Magnus Carlsen

India’s 18-year-old becomes the youngest player to reach Chess World Cup final

R Praggnanandhaa has become the youngest player to reach Chess World Cup final. The 18-year-old from India managed to defeat American GM Fabiano Caruana. Indian Grandmaster stunned world No.3 Caruana 3.5-2.5 via the tie-break in the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup chess tournament in Baku (Azerbaijan).

Pragg nudged a reminder by downing the reigning US chess champion Fabiano Caruana via the tiebreaker to enter the final in Baku, where Magnus Carlsen, the modern-day chess genius, another OG, awaits him.

“Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!,” chess legend Viswanathan Anand posted on ‘X’, formerly Twitter.

Key Points

• Impressive Performance: Scoring 6.5 points, Praggnanandhaa secured the top spot in the 10-player event, showcasing his remarkable chess skills.
• Clear First Position: After nine rounds of intense competition, Praggnanandhaa finished a full point ahead of his closest rivals, M Amin Tabatabaei from Iran and Russia’s Sanan Sjugirov.
• Consistent Performance: In the final three games of the tournament, Praggnanandhaa demonstrated great composure, securing draws against strong opponents Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine), Maxim Matlakov (Russia), and Wojtaszek.

In the post-pandemic world, a new tidal wave of Indian teenagers had swamped the chess landscape, but the 18-year-old R Praggnanandhaa remains the OG, the original child prodigy. The other bright young stars – D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin – are all walking the path paved by the Chennai boy who goes by the name of Pragg on the global chess circuit.

World Rapid Championship 2021

• Men’s: GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) won the championship. Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi (Russia) came second, while Magnus Carlsen (Norway) –the winner of the previous title (2019) came third. The event did not take place in 2020 due to Covid 19. Viswanathan Anand from India won this title in 2017 at Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
• Women’s: GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) won her first Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship title after coming in second in 2012, 2014, and 2016.

Abhimanyu Mishra: Youngest ever Chess Grandmaster

• Indian-origin American Abhimanyu Mishra has become the youngest-ever chess Grandmaster in the world after an event in Budapest on 30^th June 2021.
• He became a Grandmaster at 12 years, four months and 25 days and bettered the record of Sergey Karjakin of Russia.

G. Akash: India’s 66th Grandmaster

• Akash from Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN) became the country’s 66th Grandmaster.
• The title was confirmed at the recent meeting of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Council.
  Viswanathan became the first grandmaster from India in 1988.