BENGALURU: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is no stranger to astonishing feats. Seven years ago, he burst onto the scene as a 10-year-old, becoming the youngest International Master the world had ever seen. A couple of years later, he became the youngest Indian at the time to become a GM. At 13, none other than Viswanathan Anand called him the real deal. And now, he has become the first Indian after Anand to reach the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup.
It took some time and a lot of twists and turns, but Praggnanandhaa beat his best friend Arjun Erigaisi in a quarterfinal tiebreak that went to seven games. The two had taken their quarterfinal to tiebreak on Wednesday, after winning one apiece. On Thursday, after the first two games of 25 minutes and ten-second increments ended in draws, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun traded wins in the next two sets of two games each. Astonishingly, Praggnanandhaa won the final Blitz game after losing 30 seconds of his total three minutes on the clock, due to arriving late at the board.
“I was in the restroom and I kind of forgot that I had to run for the game,” said the 18-year-old after the game. It is the same kind of nonchalance with which he has faced the pressures of fame and public expectations since he first captured public imagination.
By virtue of his entry into the semifinal, where he will now face American GM Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa is virtually assured of an entry into the 2024 Candidates tournament that will decide the challenger to Ding Liren’s crown. This will make him just the second Indian after Anand to participate in the Candidates. It has been quite the journey for the kid who was once found sleeping in front of the chessboard while his opponent waited patiently for him to wake up.
It takes a village, as they say, to raise a child, and raising a chess prodigy is no different. As Praggnanandhaa shook hands with Arjun in Baku, the people behind his rise were celebrating at home. His family has had to sacrifice a lot to make sure he could fulfil his potential. His father A Rameshbabu, a bank employee, has physical limitations after a bout with polio at a young age. So, it was his mother Nagalakshmi, who accompanied him to tournaments all over the world, ever since a two-year-old Praggnanandhaa took to chess after watching his older sister Vaishali play it. “There was a lot of tension,” said Rameshbabu after the win. “But now, we are all very happy.”
Another man, who deserves all the credit for Praggnanandhaa’s rise is his coach RB Ramesh. It was at Ramesh’s Chess Gurukul that the future of Indian chess was moulded. “It is a fantastic achievement,” Ramesh told this newspaper. “Really happy with the way Indian chess players are putting up a challenge at the World Cup. Also extremely happy how the Indian youngsters are taking up the responsibility in putting out their hearts in these matches. Really happy the way Gukesh, Pragg, Vidit and Arjun, Nihal Sarin... everyone of them gave out everything in their matches,” said Ramesh.
For now, Praggnanandhaa gets a day’s rest before he takes on Caruana in the semifinals.
Transgender women cannot compete in women’s chess events
Geneva: The world’s top chess federation has ruled that transgender women cannot compete in its official events for females until an assessment of gender change is made by its officials. The decision by Lausanne, Switzerland-based federation FIDE was published on Monday and has drawn criticism from advocacy groups and supporters of transgender rights.