The revival of Chess in India and India’s rise in the Chess world has been headed by none other than the phenom, 18-year-old Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who was laurelled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Thursday.
Sitharaman first lauded Indian athletics and its growth over the past year by making mention of the country’s exploits in the Asian Games and the Asian Para Games that took place last year.
“The country received its highest-ever medal tally in the Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023,” stated Sitharaman.
She then proceeded to laud the chess prodigy for his hard-fought battle against the esteemed Magnus Carlsen and shed light on the sheer growth of the Indian chess community over the past decade.
“Chess prodigy and our No. 1 ranked player Praggnanandhaa put up a stiff fight against world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2023. Today, India has over 80 chess grandmasters compared to little over 20 in 2010”.
2023 was a monumental year for Indian chess and at the forefront was Praggnanandhaa, who became the youngest-ever World Cup finalist last year, and whose efforts were lauded by Sitharaman for his achievements in the sport.
Never in the past, India had a substantial representation at the chess Candidates tournament. But, this time around, that has not been the case.
“India has a healthy representation in the 2024 candidates in both sections. Especially a strong representation from the youngsters. I see this as a good beginning which will hopefully culminate in an Indian fighting for the World title in the near future. Best wishes to all the players for a wonderful competitive event,” noted coach and GM R.B. Ramesh stated.
Interestingly this will also be the first time, siblings – Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali- will be participating in the Candidates tournament from India.
Praggnanandhaa, who is spearheading the Indian contingent’s exploits in chess, has barely slowed down himself after an illustrious 2023.
Recently, the young GM defeated the reigning and four-time women’s world champion Wenjun Ju from China in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters.
The victory made Praggnanandhaa the only player in recent times to have beaten both the reigning world champions in open and women’s categories.
And just a week earlier in the same tournament, the Indian ace had beaten Ding Liren of China.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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