Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has become the youngest chess grandmaster at 16 after defeating the world chess champion Magnus Carlsen in a rapid online chess tournament in the middle of the night.
The early life of Rameshbabu Praggnandhaa
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the brother of a renowned chess player, was born in Chennai in 2005. At the age of 7, he first won the World Youth chess championship. It was under the u-8 category in 2013. That is when he had earned his title of a FIDE master, which is below the grandmaster and the international master titles.
The Chennai-based teenager who first started to learn the sport at the age of 5 has now broken all records. He has now become the first player to break Carlsen’s record since 2013.
In 2016 he became the youngest international master. After which several players predicted that he will go a long way.
Pragg’s earlier encounter with Carlsen
Carlsen is not a stranger to Pragg’s swift moves and tactics. He first played a tournament against Pragg in April 2022. This was when Pragg had received a wild card invitation for the new in chess classic leg.
When these two played their first game, they had a draw of 80 memorable moves. The game was important and memorable as Pragg had a slight advantage. He also spurn the chance of finishing the match in a draw. When Carlsen repeated his positions twice, Pragg changed his tactics and varied the third move.
He choose different continuation signals for the match at both times but due to the reputation of the photographic position the match was a draw.
Pragg Defeats The World Chess Champion
In 2022 he created history by defeating the world’s number one chess champion, Carlsen hailing from Norway, in an online chess tournament. The 16-year-old Pragg defeated Carlsen in the eighth round of the Airthings Masters. Which is the first of the nine events to be held for the 2022 Meltwater Champions chess tournament.
The young Indian teenager won the tournament against the world champion with just 39 moves of the black pieces. With this victory, he has become the third grandmaster from India who won against Carlsen after Pentala Harikrishnan and Vishwanathan Anand.
The tournament results couldn’t have been forecasted from before since Carlsen won three games at a stretch on that day. Whereas Pragg had finished his first day of the Airthings tournament with three straight losses. But, when their paths clashed, Pragg ended up creating history.
Pragg was resolute, and finally, he took home the title of the third Indian Grand Master. His victory was a subject of praise for various cam patriots.
Pragg’s Understanding Of The Game
Pragg even at this tender age has a better understanding of the game as compared to various others. A careful analysis of the game showed that he was looking for an active play from the early stages. Even with the black pieces he was looking to make an active move against the Queen’s Gambit Tarrasch Defence encounter.
He was very strategic with his game and gave up a pawn for positional indemnification. This helped him create a passed pawn in the centre. Which gave him the biggest advantage to use the pawn as a pivot to transfer his pieces near the white King.
This strategy worked towards creating a successful matting attack. His moves showed his deep understanding of the game. His willingness to create a dynamic imblance to get an advantage showed his skills and strategic thinking.
Pragg’s victory has lead to various prolific sportspersons to ushere their congratulations. With such recognition and career opportunities it is believed that Pragg will be able to reach the summit of chess in no time.
