FIDE Master (2013); International Master (2016); Grandmaster (2018); Asian U8 Champion (2013); World U10 Champion (2015); Asian U12 Champion (2016).
Titles
Praggnanandhaa was formerly the youngest person ever to become an International Master. He did so on 29 May 2016 at the age of ten years and ten months and nineteen days, beating by over a year the record previously held by Sergey Karjakin. (1) He won his IM norms by:
- scoring 4.5/9 at the 30th International Festival of Games - Tournament A held in Cannes in February-March 2016
- scoring 5/9 at Aeroflot B in Moscow in March 2016 and
- scoring 6.5 from the first nine rounds of the 9th KiiT International Festival in Odisha in India in May 2016.
In November 2019, Abhimanyu Mishra beat his record by 17 days.
In June 2018, at the age of 12 years 10 months and 14 days, he became the second youngest person after Sergey Karjakin to become a Grandmaster, and along with Karjakin only one of two players at that time to win the title before the age of 13 years. (2) His GM norms were achieved at the:
- World Junior Championship in 2017 (see below)
- Heraklion Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament in Greece in April 2018 and at the
- 4th Gredine Open in June 2018.
Events
At the 2016 WYCC (U12 cadet's section), Andrew Hong, Nihal Sarin and Vincent Keymer and he all tied (behind Nikhil Kumar who won) with scores of 8.5/11. (3) He scored eight points after 11 rounds at the World Junior Championship (2017) behind Aryan Tari (winner), Manuel Petrosyan (2nd after tiebreaks) and Chithambaram V R Aravindh (3rd after tie-breaks), tying with 3 others at 8 points.
In January 2018, Praggnanandhaa tied for third place with GM Alder Escobar Forero and IM Denys Shmelov in the Charlotte Chess Center's Winter 2018 GM Norm Invitational held in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a score of 5.0/9.
In July 2019, Praggnanandhaa won the Xtracon Chess Open in Denmark, scoring 8.5 of 10.
In December 2019, he became the second-youngest person to be rated 2600 Elo. He did this at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 24 days.
In April 2021, Praggnanandhaa won the Polgar Challenge, the first leg (out of four) of the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, a rapid online event organized by Julius Baer Group and Chess24.com for young talents. He scored 15.5/19, 1.5 points ahead of the next best placed competitors.This win helped him qualify for the next Meltwater Champions Chess Tour on 24 April 2021, where he finished in 10th place with a score of 7/15.
including wins against Teimour Radjabov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Sergey Karjakin, and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen as well as a draw against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
Praggnanandhaa entered the Chess World Cup 2021 as the 90th seed. He defeated GM Gabriel Sargissian 2 0 in round 2, and advanced to round 4 after defeating GM Michael Krasenkow in the rapid tiebreaks in round 3. He was eliminated in round four by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Praggnanandhaa, rated 2690, was seeded 31st in the FIDE World Cup (2023). He received a first-round bye, then defeated Maxime Lagarde (No. 98), David Navara (No. 34), Hikaru Nakamura (No. 2), Ferenc Berkes (No. 82), Arjun Erigaisi (No. 23), and Fabiano Caruana (No. 3). In the finals, he faces the No. 1 seed, former World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Praggnanandhaa, who turned 18 on August 10, after the tournament started, is the youngest World Cup finalist ever. He is believed to be the only player ever to face the No. 1, 2, and 3 seeds in a single World Cup.
His older sister Ramesh Babu Vaishali is an International Master.
Sources
(1) http://en.chessbase.com/post/praggn..., (2) https://en.chessbase.com/post/pragg... and https://chess24.com/en/read/news/pr...
(3) http://www.e2e4.ge/ (2016 U 12 Cadets)
References
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects... (15 October 2016 video podcast with "National Master Jerry from Pennsylvania" on ICC) and Wikipedia article: Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
Kibitzing
