"Youth is indeed our greatest strength": Gautam Adani hails Praggnanandhaa on becoming India's top-ranked chess player

New Delhi [India], June 28 (ANI): Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, is "proud" of grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who became India's number one-ranked chess player at the age of 19 following his profound success in the UzChess Cup Masters in Tashkent on Friday.

The young sensation in the world of chess, Praggnanandhaa, overwhelmed home favourite Nodirbek Abdusattorov with Black pieces on the final day to win the UzChess Cup Masters. After stamping his authority, Praggnanandhaa's live rating soared to 2778.3, making him India's highest-ranked player, leapfrogging the reigning world champion D Gukesh (2776.6) and Arjun Erigaisi (2775.7).

Before Praggnanandhaa, Erigaisi was India's top-ranked player but slipped to the sixth spot after a draw with fellow Indian Aravindh Chithambaram. In the overall chart, Praggnanandhaa is ranked fourth, ahead of Gukesh, who occupies the fifth spot with 2776.6. Magnus Carlsen (2839.2) remained at the top, followed by Hikaru Nakamura (2807.0) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2).

"Congratulations @rpraggnachess! Proud of you! Winning #UzChess, becoming India's No.1 and World No.4, and you are still just 19! What an achievement! India's youth is indeed our greatest strength," Adani wrote on X.

At the beginning of the last day, Praggnanandhaa trailed Uzbek's Abdusattorov by a point and Javokhir Sindarov, another local star, by half a point. At the end of the round-robin stage, the 19-year-old caught up to the duo at 5.5 points, courtesy of a stellar win over Abdusattorov.

In the second round of tiebreaks, Praggnanandhaa secured a draw against Abdusattorov with White pieces and beat Sindarov with Black pieces. In the end, Sindarov's win over Abdusattorov confirmed the title for Praggnanandhaa.

"Wrapped up the #UzChessCup Masters with a win in the final round and wins in tie breaks. Tiebreaks were crazy indeed. Grateful for all the support that I have received so far. Onto my next challenge to Croatia," Praggnanandhaa wrote on X following his triumph.

With his latest success, Praggnanandhaa added a third title to his belt following his victories in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament and the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Classic Romania. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)