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India Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
R Praggnanandhaa thanks Vishy Anand after overtaking D Gukesh: This one felt special
India's Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa thanked his mentor Viswanathan Anand after reaching the historic milestone of becoming India's top-ranked player. Pragg overtook world classical chess champion D Gukesh to become the No.1 ranked Indian chess player in the live rankings. The 19-year-old achieved the feat by beating Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov with Black pieces in the final round of the UzChess Cup young chess star reacted to Viswanathan Anand's congratulatory tweet on Saturday and thanked the former world champion for his unwavering support. "Thank you so much, @vishy64theking sir! This one felt special, it means a lot coming from you. Grateful always for your support and inspiration!" advertisementWith his win in the UzChess Cup Masters, Praggnanandhaa's live rating has jumped to 2778.3, pushing him to the No.4 spot in the world rankings. The 19-year-old jumped three places to be in the No.4 spot at the moment ahead of his compatriot and World Champion D Gukesh, who has 2776.6 rating points. Arjun Erigaisi, who was India's highest-ranked player until Thursday, slipped from third to sixth in the live rankings. Magnus Carlsen continues to lead the way in the rankings with 2839.2 rating points, followed by Hikaru Nakamura (2807.0) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2).Viswanathan Anand had tweeted out earlier that the win in the UzChess Cup Masters was the most unlikely one for Praggnanandhaa, as he was trailing with 2 rounds to go. At the start of Friday, Praggnanandhaa was a point behind leader Abdusattorov and half a point behind Sindarov, who was in the second spot. Eventually, Sindarov drew to finish with 5.5 points in nine rounds. Praggnanandhaa secured the win to make it a three-way is deservedly the new number four in the chess world and the highest rated player in India.(3/3)— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) June 27, 2025advertisementIn the first round of tie-breaks, which was a double round-robin blitz tournament, all the players ended with two points out of four. In the second round, Praggnanandhaa defeated Sindarov, while Sindarov beat Abdusattorov. Pragg also drew new ranking for Praggnanandhaa is just another chapter in what has been a fantastic 2025. The Indian grandmaster defeated Gukesh earlier in the year in stunning fashion to claim the Tata Steel Masters 2025. He became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title since 2006.- Ends
India Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
Praggnanandhaa becomes India's top-ranked player with UzChess Cup Masters win
R Praggnanandhaa reached a historic milestone on Friday, June 27 when he became the No.1 ranked Indian chess player in the live rankings. The 19-year-old achieved the feat by beating Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov with Black pieces in the final round of the UzChess Cup the win, Praggnanandhaa's live rating has jumped to 2778.3. This has made the Indian grandmaster No.4 on the rankings, the highest he has achieved in his career so far. The 19-year-old jumped three places to be in the No.4 spot at the moment ahead of his compatriot and World Champion D Gukesh, who has 2776.6 rating Praggnanandhaa is the India no.1 player in live ratings! Pragg defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the Black pieces in the final round of UzChess Cup Masters this win, Pragg becomes the World no.4 and India no.1 for the first time, 2778.3 in live ratings! ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) June 27, 2025advertisementArjun Erigaisi, who had been India's highest-ranked player until Thursday, has slipped from third to sixth in the live rankings. Magnus Carlsen continues to lead the way in the rankings with 2839.2 rating points, followed by Hikaru Nakamura (2807.0) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2). Courtesy: At the start of the day, Praggnanandhaa was a point behind leader Abdusattorov, and half a point behind Sindarov, who was in the second spot. Eventually, Sindarov drew to finish with 5.5 points in nine rounds. Praggnanandhaa secured the win to make it a three-way the first round of tie-breaks, which was a double round-robin blitz tournament, all the players ended with two points out of four. In the second round, Praggnanandhaa defeated Sindarov, while Sindarov beat Abdusattorov, and there was a draw between Praggnanandhaa and fantastic 2025 continuesThe new ranking for Praggnanandhaa is just another chapter in what has been a fantastic 2025. The Indian grandmaster defeated Gukesh earlier in the year in stunning fashion to claim the Tata Steel Masters 2025. He became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title since 2006.- EndsMust Watch
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First Post
15-06-2025
- Sport
- First Post
Magnus Carlsen's aura remains unblemished for R Praggnanandhaa despite recent loss to D Gukesh: 'No one should be compared to him'
Magnus Carlsen suffered a rare loss to D Gukesh, and while the chess world is already discussing the Norwegian's successor, R Praggnanandhaa has a different view. read more Magnus Carlsen, the highest-rated chess player of all time, has begun to question his future in the classical format and the Norway Chess tournament after a last-gasp loss to world champion D Gukesh. The chess world is now wondering whether the world No. 1 since 2011 is losing his superpower, with questions also raised about who might succeed him. Carlsen's defeat to Gukesh came in a time scramble — a first-ever win for the 19-year-old Indian chess sensation. While it was bound to happen eventually, the result was still shocking, as the five-time world champion, Magnus Carlsen, rarely blunders — regardless of what's at stake. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Magnus is strongest player on planet' Yet it doesn't change things for players who look up to him. For Indian chess star Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Carlsen continues to be the 'strongest player' in the world, who still enjoys a huge lead over the young Indian chess prodigies. 'Magnus is certainly the strongest player on the planet, so you do need a lot of skill (to beat him), but you know, in terms of score, Magnus still has a huge score against all the Indians,' Praggnanandhaa told Firstpost in an exclusive conversation. 'So it's not really that we do great against him, but we have beaten him in some games.' The Tata Steel Masters 2025 winner from Chennai, Praggnanandhaa, added that sometimes just his presence on the board is enough to beat Carlsen's opponents. 'It's possible to beat him when we play, but he is still the strongest player and there is certainly this Magnus effect, which everyone calls. Like, when you get this slightly worse position, you do start getting doubts about defending this or not because you are playing against Magnus,' he said. 'But for me personally, I don't really pay attention. And also, I don't know about others, but for me, whenever I play Magnus, I get extra, extra energy to fight. Like I'm excited to just fight it out and I think that is one of the reasons why my games against Magnus are always very exciting.' 'No one should be compared to Magnus' The world No.7 Praggnanandhaa also reacted to Carlsen's recent comments, where the Norwegian hinted that the young crop of chess masterminds, including Gukesh, are still not ready to take away the chess crown from him . Praggnanandhaa feels the world's top three players, including Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, are still very competitive. And while Gukesh and he are trying their best to overtake the legendary trio, the 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa felt that comparing anyone to Magnus will be wrong. 'You know, we all want to do well. In terms of like generations, Hikaru, Fabi, Magnus are clearly still doing very well whenever they play,' Praggnanandhaa said. 'But I think we are equally competing in tournaments, like Gukesh won the Candidates and became the world champion. I, you know, last Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters) and Superbet (Superbet Chess Classic) I won. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Others are also doing very well, like Arjun (Erigaisi) crossed 2,800. So I think this generation is also doing very well. I mean, I don't really think we should compare anyone with anyone. Magnus is Magnus. He has done everything and I don't think anyone should be compared with him. He's clearly the best player in chess.' D Gukesh called beating Magnus Carlsen his top moment from Norway Chess 2025. Watch how Carlsen reacted. — Brut India (@BrutIndia) June 9, 2025 Reflecting on Gukesh's first classical win over Carlsen, where the former world champion made an uncharacteristic blunder in the time scramble, Praggnanandhaa said that a draw looked like the most possible result, because mistakes from Carlsen are a rarity. 'It was not something that was expected because Magnus doesn't usually blunder, but Gukesh also defended well. When I was watching the game, I thought it could end in a draw. These blunders do happen in time trouble. But it's also shocking from Magnus because he is someone who usually doesn't blunder these things,' he signed off. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
