R Praggnanandhaa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids R Praggnanandhaa |
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Praggnanandhaa in 2025
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| Full name | Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa |
| Country | India |
| Born | 10 August 2005 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2018) |
| FIDE rating | 2608 (August 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2779 (July 2025) |
| Peak ranking | No. 4 (July 2025) |
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (born on August 10, 2005) is a super talented chess grandmaster from India. He is known as a chess prodigy because he became very good at chess at a young age.
Praggnanandhaa achieved second place in the 2023 Chess World Cup. He is also the only Indian player to win the Tata Steel Chess Tournament after the legendary Viswanathan Anand. He was part of the Indian team that won a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the men's team chess event. In 2024, his team won a gold medal at the 45th Chess Olympiad. In June 2025, he joined the esports club Team Liquid.
About Praggnanandhaa's Life
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Praggnanandhaa was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. His family speaks Tamil. His father, Rameshbabu, works at a bank. His mother, Nagalakshmi, is a homemaker. She often travels with Praggnanandhaa to his chess tournaments.
Praggnanandhaa has an older sister named Vaishali. They are the first brother and sister in history to both become grandmasters. Praggnanandhaa earned his title in 2018, and Vaishali became a grandmaster in 2023. They are also the first brother and sister to qualify for the important Candidates Tournament.
When he's not playing chess, Praggnanandhaa enjoys playing table tennis. He also likes watching cricket in his free time.
Praggnanandhaa's Chess Journey
Early Wins (2013-2017)
In 2013, Praggnanandhaa won the World Youth Chess Championship for players under 8 years old. This win earned him the title of FIDE Master. Two years later, in 2015, he won the under-10 title.
In 2016, Praggnanandhaa made history. He became the youngest international master ever at that time. He was only 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days old. He took a big step towards becoming a grandmaster in November 2017. He achieved his first grandmaster norm at the World Junior Chess Championship.
Becoming a Grandmaster (2018)
Praggnanandhaa earned his second grandmaster norm in April 2018 in Greece. On June 23, 2018, he got his third and final norm in Italy. He defeated Luca Moroni to achieve this.
At 12 years, 10 months, and 13 days old, he became the second-youngest grandmaster ever at that time. Only Sergey Karjakin was younger. Praggnanandhaa is now the sixth-youngest person to become a Grandmaster.
In 2018, Praggnanandhaa played a special rapid chess match in Spain. He played against Wesley So, a strong grandmaster. Praggnanandhaa won one game, but So eventually won the match.
More Success (2019)
In July 2019, Praggnanandhaa won the Xtracon Chess Open in Denmark. He scored an impressive 8.5 out of 10 points. On October 12, 2019, he won the World Youth Championships in the Under-18 section.
In December 2019, he became the second-youngest player to reach a rating of 2600. He was 14 years, 3 months, and 24 days old.
Online Tournaments (2021)
In April 2021, Praggnanandhaa won the Polgar Challenge. This was an online rapid chess event for young talents. His win helped him qualify for the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. In this tour, he won games against several top players. He even drew a game against the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen.
Praggnanandhaa also played in the Chess World Cup 2021. He won against strong grandmasters like Gabriel Sargissian and Michał Krasenkow. He was eventually eliminated in the fourth round.
Facing the Best (2022)
Praggnanandhaa played in the Masters section of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022. He won games against Andrey Esipenko, Vidit Gujrathi, and Nils Grandelius.
He was part of the India-2 team at the 44th Chess Olympiad. His team finished third and won a bronze medal.
On February 20, 2022, he made headlines. He became only the third Indian player to beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen in any time format. This happened in an online rapid tournament. He defeated Carlsen again in May 2022 and reached the finals of another online event. He also beat Carlsen three times in the FTX Crypto Cup 2022.
World Cup Finalist (2023)
In January 2023, Praggnanandhaa played in the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2023. He defeated Ding Liren, a grandmaster with a rating over 2800. This was his first win against such a highly rated player in a classical game.
At the World Cup 2023, 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa became the youngest player ever to reach the final. He beat Fabiano Caruana in the semi-final. He was also the second Indian, after Viswanand Anand, to reach the World Cup final. He played against Magnus Carlsen in the final. Carlsen won in the rapid tie-breaks, so Praggnanandhaa finished in second place. This amazing result qualified him for the 2024 Candidates Tournament.
Recent Achievements (2024-2025)
In 2024, Praggnanandhaa finished 5th in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. He also achieved a big win in June 2024. He defeated Magnus Carlsen for the first time in a classical game at the Norway Chess tournament. At the 45th Chess Olympiad in September 2024, Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali both won gold medals with their respective Indian teams.
In January 2025, Praggnanandhaa won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025, Masters section. He defeated Gukesh D in a playoff. He also placed well in other tournaments, including the Prague Chess Festival and the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz.
In May 2025, Praggnanandhaa won the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic Romania. He won a playoff against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja. In June 2025, he finished second in the Stepan Avagyan Memorial.
In the same month, Praggnanandhaa won the 2nd UzChess Cup 2025. After this win, he became the World No.4 player. He also became the No. 1 rated player in India on the July 2025 FIDE rankings list.
Awards and Recognition
National Awards
- Arjuna Award: 2022
Other Recognitions
- CNN-News18 Indian of the Year (Sports): 2023
See also
In Spanish: Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa para niños
- Chess in India
- List of Indian chess players
- List of chess grandmasters
