India’s chess boom continues

RAMESHBABU Praggnanandhaa, who has qualified to become the world’s second-youngest chess Grandmaster at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days, has been marked out for greatness for most of his young life. “Praggu” achieved his final Grandmaster norm when he beat GM Moroni Luca Jr in the Gredine Open in Italy. A child prodigy, in 2016 Praggu had become the youngest International Master in the history of chess. He would have become the youngest-ever Grandmaster if he had achieved the third GM norm before March 10 this year, which would have broken the record of Ukraine’s Sergey Karjakin. Karjakin was 12 years and 7 months old when he achieved the feat in 2002, and his record stands. Praggu is the latest in the list of India’s chess geniuses, reputed to be mature beyond his years. Viswanathan Anand paid him the ultimate compliment when he said that Praggu is “uncompromising in not settling for easy, quick draws”.

India is experiencing a chess boom. Six years ago, the country had 27 Grandmasters — now the number stands at 51. Many of the additions were teenagers when they became Grandmasters, reflecting chess’s popularity among children and parents. There is a great demand for chess lessons at academies in the big cities, especially in South India. Most parents encourage their children to play chess because of the belief that it helps in sharpening a child’s analytical abilities, which in turn would have great educational value. 

The man behind India’s chess boom, former world champion Anand, is himself in his 49th year and ranked No. 14 in the world. But despite the rise of the teen Grandmasters, Anand has been India’s No. 1 for 32 years, except for a couple of days in 2016 when P Harikrishna briefly overtook him. Anand’s longevity at the top is indicative of his quality as a player; it also illustrates the fact that India’s teen geniuses tend to fade away at the senior level. There are only seven Indians in the global top-100. Among them, only Anand is part of the creamy layer. Praggnanandhaa has the talent to get there.