Shambhu Datta Mishra
Since Grandmasters Viswanathan Anand and Dibyendu Barua burst on to the national scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, chess has gained in popularity rapidly. Following the path of the legendary Anand, who is from Tamil Nadu, many others have tried to master the intricacies of the 64 squares. The latest to join the bandwagon is another Tamil Nadu talent, IM R Praggnanandhaa.
Prag, as he is popularly known, became the youngest International Master (IM) in the world during the recently-concluded KIIT Chess Festival. At 10 years and nine months, he is definitely a notch above the rest.
During the tournament, Prag defeated higher-rated players like Armenian GM Karen Grigoryan, and forced draws from Grandmasters Sandipan Chanda, Ivan Popov, Evgeny Gleizerov and Debasish Das. Therein lie the beauty of chess – a game where the brains of 10-year-old can outwit the canny grey cells of people who are double and triple his age.
The son of Ramesh Babu, a manager at Tamil Nadu State Co-operative Bank in Chennei, Prag currently studies in Class VI at Velammal Matriculation School. The kid got attracted to chess by watching sister (WIM) R Vaishali and started playing the game when he was only three. Seeing his proficiency, his parents got him admitted to the Bloom Chess Academy in Chennai. Prag learnt the basics of the game from Tyaga Raja for five years and currently is an understudy to GM RB Ramesh for the last two years.
The advantage of having an elder sibling doing well in the game has rubbed on to Prag. “My thambi (sister in Tamil) helps whenever she is free and especially during tournament. She is quite experienced enough to teach me moves and strategies and I also enjoy her guidance. It helps me a lot,” he said.
At the age of six, Prag first represented his state in the
U-7 National Chess Championships in 2011 where he secured a silver medal. After that there was no looking back as he went on to earn more laurels in his short but fruitful career.
Speaking about his chess craze, the newly-crowned IM stated that he always has loved the game and believes in hard work. “Chess is my second life. I work very hard to improve and never relax,” stated the young kid with excitement writ large on his face.
Prag’s parents are proud of their son for his achievements. “He was shy during his early age, but naughty. However, he never neglected chess or his studies,” said Prag’s mother, who had accompanied her son to the KIIT meet. “He has always secured 90-plus marks in school exams,” she added.
Speaking about Prag’s daily routine, his mother Nagalakshmi informed that he doesn’t have many friends as he doesn’t like to waste time. “Prag has fixed goals and he is not ready to divert from them,” she stated. “He plays chess three to four hours every day, then comes studies. Whenever he gets free time, he goes to the temple and meditates as it calms his mind,” she added.
The world awaits a new champion
