WHEN R. Praggnanandhaa was born in 2005, Magnus Carlsen was already a chess grandmaster. Carlsen had first proved his mettle in 2004, at a prestigious annual tournament held every year in the Dutch village of Wijk aan Zee. By the time Pragg debuted there in 2021, Carlsen had twice accomplished the unprecedented feat of being the chess, rapid and blitz champion in the same year.
Wijk aan Zee was where Pragg first found nerves of steel. Soon after he landed, his coach was diagnosed with Covid and was quarantined. Pragg was forced to stay alone and learn cooking while he practised. Worse, he had to go past a graveyard to reach the playing hall. He kept his nerve rather well, becoming the youngest player to defeat Carlsen just months later.
This year saw Pragg become the youngest player―and the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand―to reach the Chess World Cup final. He went down fighting to Carlsen in rapid tie-breaks, but qualified for the Candidates Tournament next year that would decide the challenger for the 2024 World Chess Championship.
At 18, he has become the third youngest Candidate ever―behind only Carlsen and Bobby Fischer. Pragg’s sister Vaishali, too, became grandmaster in December and qualified for the Candidates Tournament. They will be the first brother-sister duo in the tournament.
