16-year-old chess prodigy Rameshbabu "Pragg" Praggnanandhaa did India proud by defeating the reigning and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen in 39 moves at the opening leg of the Champions Chess Tour which is a 16-player online rapid competition. This was an incredible achievement for the young lad, only two other Indians before him, one of them being the legendary Vishwanathan Anand have managed to get the better of Carlsen who has been largely undefeated for close to a decade now. It has been steady progress for Praggnanandhaa who first won the Under-8 crown at the World Youth Championships in 2013, thereafter moving on to become the youngest International Master at 11 years of age and a Grandmaster in June 2018. He also won the U-18 World Youth Championships in October 2019. Aggressive moves from our little genius who had the perceived handicap of playing with black pieces pushed Carlsen on the back foot who buckled under an all-front relentless attack. We now have another 'little master' in our midst who must be nurtured to win more laurels for India in future. Kudos little one, here's looking forward to more magic from you in the game of 64 squares.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
