Praggu upsets Dutch GM Giri; persistence and hard work paying off, says coach
NEW DELHI:
Won the World Youth Chess Championship Under-8 title, earning him the title of FIDE Master at the age of 7
Became the youngest International Master (IM) ever, at the age of 10 years, 10 months and 19 days
Became the second-youngest Grandmaster (GM) ever, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Since then, he has slipped to fifth in the list of youngest GMS
Became the second-youngest player to achieve a rating of 2600. He did so at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 24 days
Won the Challengers Chess Tour, earning him entry into the 2022
Champions Chess Tour
Became the third Indian after
Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna to defeat world champion Magnus
Carlsen youngest International Master (IM). When he was 12, he became the second youngest GM at the time. When he was 14, he crossed the 2600 rating, which made him the youngest Indian to do so,” said Ramesh, lending perspective to the youngster’s evolution. “If you see over a period of time, he has been making progress. He has been breaking records. People notice it only when something (big) happens. It is an overall journey. He has always been progressing steadily towards the top.”
The exposure to playing against some of the world’s top players is certainly helping Praggnanandhaa’s cause. The Chessable Masters is one of a series of tournaments that is part of the Champions Chess Tour—an initiative of Carlsen’s where nine tournaments will be held in nine months this year. “There are at least four or five top players participating in these events every month. Carlsen is playing every month. Giri is playing every month. Liren is playing in this event (Chessable Masters). So, Praggnanandhaa is getting a chance every month to play against the top players. That is a very good thing,” the 46-year-old coach said.
Praggnanandhaa earned this opportunity to compete with the sport’s elite by winning the Challengers Chess Tour last year—an event where the top-20 juniors competed. “If he had not been working hard for all these years, he would have been crushed (in these tournaments). The rating difference with the top players is vast (most of his opponents are rated 150 points above him). But he has realised that he can handle the top-10 in the world. Playing these guys every month has helped him sharpen his skills, increase his stamina, become more alert and thorough in his preparation,” said Ramesh.
With each victory, the spotlight on the reticent chess prodigy from the suburbs of west Chennai is only going to magnify. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has already remarked, for instance, that Praggnanandhaa is playing “like a real world champion, not a future one.”
Ramesh and Praggnanandhaa, though, have their feet on the ground. “I disagree with Kramnik’s assessment. Kramnik is not watching these players very closely. When someone does well, people give their opinion. I have a lot of respect for Kramnik as a player, but Praggu still has a long way to go,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh went on to elaborate on the specifics. “He had been trying to become a better player at the cost of opening preparation. We were focusing on improving his general strength. Now that he is very strong, we have been working more on openings too for the last oneand-a-half years. But it will take another one or two years for him to become extremely strong at openings and get at par with the top players. As of now, he is very, very far from becoming a world champion.”