Pragga prodigy: The Rise and Rise of Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

Less than a year ago, answering a question on how much he knew about Pragg and of chances of becoming a world champion in the future, Magnus Carlsen, the five-time reigning world champion, had told Sportstar, “I’ve no idea. Obviously he’s extremely talented, but whether he will break through it’s very, very hard to say, but I think we can sort of enjoy the fact that he’s playing so well at this age and I would say also fearlessly.

“He certainly didn’t show me too much respect when we were playing, so he clearly believes that he can compete at this level and I think at this point that’s sort of enough. Let’s not talk about the World Championships so much for him and just let him develop.”

In that tournament Pragg and Carlsen played an 80-move draw and twice Pragg refused to take a drawing chance by not allowing a repetition of move. Ultimately the game did end in a draw. It was almost like Pragg was biding his time. That was in April, 2021.

In February 2022, Pragg laid low Carlsen at the online Airthings Masters Rapid Chess Tournament. With Carlsen, who was recently struck by Covid, on the other side of the world, Pragg was competing from his home with the local time approaching 3 am. After winning, he told the online interviewers, all that he was looking forward to was some sleep!

But not before texting his coach, RB Ramesh and waking up his father in the next room to tell them he had just ‘slayed’ the world’s best chess player ever. The fearlessness, Carlsen had mentioned a year ago, was evident. Now, Pragg’s adaptability is even better. For instance, Pragg had to train himself to play from 10-11 pm onwards deep into the night, often past 3 am because the timings of the game were scheduled to suit the Europeans, who made up most of the field. In the weeks leading up to the event, coach Ramesh set up some strong opponents for Pragg to play at those ‘unearthly’ hours. “Not once did Pragg complain,” said Ramesh.

Pragg finished 12th in the 16-player tournament, as Ian Nepomniatchtchi took the title and Carlsen was second. Yet, no one can take away the fact that Pragg (2612 rating points) beat four players — Carlsen (2865), Lev Aronian (2772), Vladislav Episenko and Andrey Artemiev (2700) — over 2700, which is the goal the Indian teen has set for himself this year.

With in-person chess having had to take a pause because of Covid, Pragg had to rely a lot on online chess as did the rest of the world to keep in touch. But online results do not translate into rating points. “Now that he has begun and will travel more, 2700 is where he should get by the end of the year,” says Ramesh.

Ask Pragg about his wins, all he says, “I am happy I was able to beat Magnus, who is the world champion and I want to learn more.”

The boy, who loves playing hide-and-seek at his coach Ramesh’s Chess Gurukul when he comes ahead of time, is opposite on the board. He is patient to the extent he sometimes takes 20-30 minutes or even more on a single move.

SISTER’S MOVE

The story of chess in Pragg’s family, when it started some 12-15 years ago, was initially not focused on him. Rameshbabu (Pragg’s father), who has been afflicted by polio since his youth, works in a bank. He and his wife, Nagalakshmi, wanted to wean away Pragg’s elder sister, Vaishali, from TV cartoon shows, to which Pragg was also gravitating. They took Vaishali to a chess coach and when she started playing the game, Pragg’s curiosity got the better of him. All of three-and-a-half years old, he, too, took to the game.

Vaishali won the World Under-12 in 2012, and World Under-14 in 2015, and became a Woman International Master. Pragg himself progressed at a very fast pace and by 2011 he had arrived at the doors of Ramesh. “I would tell him (as also others) that he should learn from each game and not look at results,” says Ramesh, who also wanted him to get a Grandmaster status early.

Once when Pragg seemed a little listless after some losses, Ramesh discussed it with him. The boy’s answer was something like, “But you only told me not to look at the results and I was trying some things.” Ramesh admitted the contradiction.

Pragg sorted it all out; became a Grandmaster at 12 – the fifth youngest ever. The journey had begun and he now also has Anand as a mentor.

One of Pragg’s major assets is his memory. Pragg tries to devour as many games of major stars as he can and tries to remember them with positions. He learns from them, whether he’s playing with white or black. Three of his five wins in Airthings event came with black, including over Carlsen.

Before scalping Carlsen, young Pragg’s biggest win was over Bulgarian Veselin Topalov in early 2020. Topalov, who lost to Anand in the 2010 World Championship match in Sofia, first became the World Champion in 2005 in San Luis, Mexico. Pragg was born that year!

Fifteen years after becoming world champion and 10 years after losing to Anand in a World title match, Topalov lost to a 14-year-old Pragg in the 2020 Gibraltar Masters. Now he has an even bigger win. In 2013, the year Pragg won the World Under-8 title, Carlsen beat Anand for the ultimate World title. Then as Carlsen was packing the Trophy to take it to Norway, he may understandably have not noticed nor known anything about the frail 7-year-old hanging around the venue. But in February, 2022, as he retired from his chess room to the bedroom, Carlsen knew a lot more about Praggnanandhaa. From here on he will be looking out for more.