Indian prodigy prepares to take on Magnus Carlsen for the world title

Millions of Indian citizens will be rooting for the teenage prodigy known as Pragg, who will take on Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen for the world chess title. The meeting will take place on August 22. Writes about it CNN.

Rameshbabu Praggnanandaa, 18, is set to take on the five-time world champion in Baku, Azerbaijan after defeating Fabiano Caruana in a tight match to secure his place in the final.

Praggnanandaa shocked the chess world about a year ago when he defeated Carlsen in an elite online rapid chess tournament, becoming the youngest player to defeat the Norwegian since he became world champion in 2013.

The victory echoed across India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar praised Praggnanandhu for his skill and talent.

Born and raised in Chennai in southern India, Praggnanandaa became interested in the game after his older sister Vaishali started playing at the age of 6. At that time he was only 2 years old.

“Usually I would come and bother her, and then my parents decided to buy me a chess book, and that’s how it all started,” Praggnanandaa told CNN Sport last year.

Vaishali became a grandmaster in 2018 and an international master in 2021.

While living in Chennai, known as “the chess capital of India”, Praggnanandaa had many opportunities to hone his skills, especially at the Bloom Chess Academy, where he says he “learned a lot”.

At the age of 6, he was runner-up in the Indian Under-7 Championship before winning gold in the Asian Championship and later won the World Under-8 and Under-10 Youth Chess Championship.

Then, in 2016, he made history by winning his game in the ninth round at the KIIT International Chess Festival in Bhubaneswar, India.