Chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa becomes India’s no. 1, surpassing former prodigy Anand
At just 18 years of age, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has become India’s top-rated player, surpassing the five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.
He achieved the feat after stunning world champion Ding Liren of China in the fourth round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, being played in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands.
He has, thus, also become just the second Indian player, after Anand, to defeat a reigning world champion in classical chess.
Following his triumph on Tuesday night, the 18-year-old now boasts of a FIDE live rating of 2748.3 points, edging past Anand, who has 2748 points. FIDE, the world chess body, updates its ratings at the beginning of each month.
In the overall standings in the tournament, Dutch GM Anish Giri leads the Masters group with 3.5 points. On Thursday, he will face Praggnanandhaa, third with 2.5 points, in the fifth round.
