Meet 11-year-old who could be world’s youngest Grandmaster

when he was 18. The youngest Indian to have achieved it is Parimarjan Negi, at 13 years and four months.

Babu says it’s the uncomplicated exuberance of his age, but his son has done his maths. “Before August, I’ll be playing in at least 5-6 tournaments. Now I have a FIDE rating of 2,455 (Elo points). So if I play well in the next three tournaments, I can complete 2,500 points before March,” says Pragga.

To acquire the Grandmaster status, he will have to get three norms of 2,600+ performances from individual tournaments. Pragga could complete 2,500 points, if he comes up with impressive results in Tradewise Gibraltar and Tata Steel Wijk B in January.

However, he regrets losing out on easy points that would have helped him attain the norm much earlier. “In the Isle of Man tournament (in October), I got only 5.5 out of 9. It was a satisfactory result, but one or two points could have helped me. I slipped up in a couple of crucial junctures in the final round,” he says, revealing a fierce streak of ambition.

Pragga’s tactically nuanced game has already received rave reviews from the international chess fraternity. His 18move game against Paraguayan Grandmaster Axel Bachmann in Isle of Man has already been likened to Bobby Fischer’s ‘Game of the Century’ against Donald Byrne in 1956.

His mother Nagalakshmi, who accompanies him to every tournament, narrates how meticulously he prepares for games. “He will spend a lot of time studying his (possible) opponents on Youtube and other (chess) websites and ask his sister (R Vaishali) to simulate them. Then, he will discuss his tactics with coach R B Ramesh,” she says.

Vaishali, herself an International Master, vouches for her brother’s drive to win even routine games between them. “He hates to lose even one game at home, and keeps a count of our win-loss record,” she says.

Probably, that’s also when the bicycle gets a brief respite.