This past year has been a phenomenal one for the Chess prodigy from Chennai, R Praggnandhaa.
The teenage Grandmaster caused a stir in the sporting world with his headline victories against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
But, all these laurels and accolades at his tender age are not an anomaly for the Chess genius. He became an International Master at the very young age of 10 years, before going on to become a Grandmaster at the age of 12.
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A lot of monumental achievements in the world of sports have come on home turf. And with the FIDE Chess Olympiad preparations in full swing in the young masters’ home city of Chennai certainly makes it all the more special, especially at this juncture of his budding career.
“I think there will be some pressure, but I am looking forward to playing in my first Olympiad and representing the Indian team”, began Pragg.
“I’m sure it would be an enjoyable experience for the spectators and the players.”
“And regarding the preparations, there is going to be a camp for the B team,” said the prodigy.
“I’m looking forward to the camp and excited to train with my teammates”, explained Pragg.
On the back of his stellar performance on the international stage, the Indian Oil Corporation has offered tenure to the grandmaster from Chennai.
His coach of over 9 years, Ramesh RB called this a big year for his ward as he plans to level up his game over the board and online.
As a coach, Ramesh just hopes that Pragg can continue to grow and progress in the right direction.
“I have worked with many extremely talented young players, and from experience, I can say that there are many children with a lot of talent, but only a few go on to unlock and fulfil their potential”, starts the coach.
“A lot of players, especially the young ones, despite their obvious talent do not make it big because they aren’t grounded enough. They think talent alone can take them places.”
But that is so far away from the truth.
“Pragg understood at a very young age that he was extremely talented. No question about it. But he is also extremely ambitious, one of the most ambitious I’ve worked with.”
“He is unquestionably talented and absolutely hard working. He keeps learning and improving his chess and keeps growing stronger and stronger,” continued Ramesh.
“Though the boy has beaten a lot of big names, it is still essential that he keeps learning and getting stronger to perform at the very top year after year.”
“He believes everything in chess can be learned. Which is good quality,” said a proud coach.
The FIDE Chess Olympiad, slated to take place in Chennai, is the nation’s first attempt at hosting the chess federation’s headline event.
And as with everything else in life, it wasn’t just handed over to the Mecca of Chess. With a lot of moving pieces in place, an active effort from the secretary of AICF Bharat Singh Chauhan and the Honourable CM of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin’s zest and clarity ensured that things happened at an accelerated pace and that Indians would have a shot at the organising the showpiece event.
“It is really hard to believe that we could land the hosting rights in such a short span of time”, starts AICF Secretary Chauhan.
“I sent a text message to Arkady saying India is ready to host any event even before Russia was stripped of the right to organise the event.”
“But once the sanctions were imposed, it was a matter of beating the clock. And within 24 hours of the announcement of the sanctions, we were able to produce guarantees from 2 different governments promising 10 million USD and we never looked back”, explained Chauhan.
“India getting an Olympiad is a big deal as, under normal circumstances, people from Europe and USA do not prefer to travel as far, but we want to prove that we are capable of organising an event as well as any other country.”
“We want to showcase that we can deliver an amazing experience that makes people want to visit our country again and participate in events in the future,” he asserted.
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