PRAGG-RESS REPORT

Praggnanandhaa, 18, might have arrived on the world stage, but it will take more for him to stay in the hunt

- NEERU BHATIA AND LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

IN SPORT, prodigies don't always blossom into world-beaters; Indian chess currently has a handful of teens who could be on the cusp of doing so. This includes Gukesh D., Arjun Erigaisi and, as of now, first among equals R. Praggnanandhaa, who took on the great Magnus Carlsen in the final of the recently concluded FIDE World Cup.

Though he stumbled at the final hurdle, the 18-year-old had an impressive run to reach Carlsenbeating world nos. 2 and 3, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, who are nearly 80 points above him in the FIDE ratings. Also, he achieved the primary aim of playing the tournament-reaching the Candidates tournament. There, if he wins, he will challenge World Champion, China's Ding Liren, for his title.

"He wants to be world champion," his coach R.B. Ramesh told THE WEEK. "Magnus became world champion at 22; Pragg is just 18. There are still three to five years for him to aim for the World Championship. For that, we have to work extremely hard. The external environment needs some changes; we need powerful machines to do the analysis. Most top players would already be using these. Also, [we have to] put together a bigger team than the one we have currently. We are already talking to people and hope it will all come together by the end of September." The Candidates tournament is scheduled for April.

"There have been a lot of positive takeaways for me," said Praggnanandhaa. "I have never played such a long tournament and it has been a good experience for the Candidates."