India’s young Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa hogged international limelight with his shock win over World Number One and five-time World champion Magnus Carlsen in the Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament recently.
The 16-year-old from Chennai was pleasantly surprised with the calls and congratulatory messages he received after the famous victory. “I didn’t expect it, given that it is an online tournament. It shows the popularity of chess and it is certainly growing,” said Praggnanandhaa in a conversation with The Hindu here on Friday, after being felicitated by Rela Hospital, who gave Rs. 1 Lakh to the GM.
Praggnanandhaa said he hopes to cross the Elo rating of 2700 by the end of the year, taking motivation from current World No. 2 Alireza Firouzja of Iran, who has had a rapid growth.
