Indian Chess prodigy 'Pragg' is youngest to reach a World Cup final

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Aug 2023 13:59

The 18-year-old is now the youngest player to reach a chess World Cup final after earning a silver by losing to International No.1 Magnus Carlsen at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) final.

Pragg laughs as he is celebrated by his school upon his arrival back in Chennai on June 26, 2018 (AFP)

Teen chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, known as 'Pragg', arrived in India on Wednesday after facing international No.1 Magnus Carlsen in the World Cup final last week in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

The 18-year-old is now the youngest player to reach a chess World Cup final after earning a silver by losing to Carlsen at the International Chess Federation (FIDE) final. He still earned praise from chess legend Garry Kasparov who described him as "very tenacious in difficult positions".

Pragg was greeted back home with bouquets of flowers and sweets at the airport in his home city of Chennai in southern India.

"I am very happy to see so many people have come to receive me... it feels really great," he told media.

Pragg, the son of a bank employee and a housewife, has been playing and training in chess since he was four years old.

Indian food takes credit

However, the prodigy is where he is now due to the cooking of his mother Nagalakshmi, who accompanies him on his tournaments with seasonings from southern India to cook his favorite meal of rice and spicy rasam or sambhar soup.

His mother told the ChessBase India news site on Tuesday that she cooked rice and sambhar for him at the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship in Dusseldorf, Germany, after the Baku event.

His first coach, S. Thiagarajan, who has been teaching him since he was four until he reached age 10, described him as dedicated. "He was always a bright student and a jovial child," Thiagarajan told AFP.

"He used to be in the academy every day from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, at times staying longer -- and I would give him homework which would take at least three hours to finish," he added.

Back in 2018, at 12 years, 10 months, and 13 days old, Pragg became the world's then-second-youngest chess grandmaster.

Chess only gained popularity in India after 18-year-old Vishwanathan Anand became the country's first grandmaster in 1988 and dominated the game in the 2000s.

A predecessor to chess is believed to have originated in India in the sixth century AD, spreading to Persia and developing into the "Game of Kings" it is known now as.