D. Gukesh winning the world title, Koneru Humpy bagging the world rapid title, R. Praggnanandhaa winning the prestigious Tata Steel Masters title, Arjun Erigaisi making rapid strides and becoming the highest ranking Indian in the FIDE ratings, R. Vaishali enjoying a peak FIDE rating last year… Indian chess has never had it so good and is bound to benefit enormously, says Partab Ramchand, as he describes the healthy rivalry in the game we see today
Indian chess has been a world power for some time now but the sport in the country has never had it so good. The juggernaut has just rolled on since last year when the men and women completed a unique double in the Chess Olympiad. Then D. Gukesh won the world title, defeating reigning champion Ding Liren from China in Singapore. Shortly afterwards, Koneru Humpy won the world rapid title. And now comes the latest triumph with R. Praggnanandhaa winning the prestigious Tata Steel Masters title at Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands getting the better of none other than Gukesh.
The bespectacled 19-year-old from Chennai came from behind to upstage the 18-year-old World No. 5 in the tie-breaker, losing the first game but winning the next two in the grand old event’s 87th edition recently. Both players ended up tied at 8.5 points after losing their 13th round games. While Gukesh lost to fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi, Pragg went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany.
“I really didn’t expect to win but somehow things went my way,” said Pragg, not hiding the fact that it was a stressful day. But then, he has always maintained his composure however tense the situation, one of the reasons behind his rapid rise in international chess. The teenager became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the title. Anand won it three times in 2003, 2004 and 2006.
It was Pragg who first turned the spotlight on young Indian players in 2023 when he reached the World Cup final in Baku before losing to Magnus Carlsen. Gukesh and Arjun then started their outstanding sequence of results that ended with Arjun breaking the 2800 Elo rating barrier and Gukesh clinching the world crown. Both had led India to the unprecedented Olympiad team gold with individual gold medals.
While both Gukesh and Arjun have breached the 2800 Elo barrier, Pragg is a little distance behind but it is only a matter of time before he too joins his colleagues. His coach R.B. Ramesh is of the view that Pragg’s game went through a bit of stagnation for some part of last year as he was playing non-stop chess across various formats. He is confident that with his triumph at Wijk aan Zee, things will become better for Pragg who reached a peak of World No. 8 last year. Pragg himself admits that winning the title is very important in boosting his confidence.
Gukesh, of course, became the youngest undisputed world champion at the age of 18 years and 195 days with his victory over Ding Liren last year. His other notable achievements include being the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, the third youngest to have surpassed 2700 Elo points at the age of 16, and the third youngest GM at the age of 17 in chess history.
Pragg and Gukesh have been in the forefront of spearheading the formidable Indian challenge in international tournaments but over the last year or so Arjun has made rapid strides. He is, in fact, currently the highest ranking Indian in the FIDE ratings at No. 4 and in December last year he achieved his peak rating of 2801 which made him the 15th highest rated player in chess history and the second Indian to cross the 2800 mark after Anand. The 21-year-old Arjun had the spotlight firmly turned on him during the Chess Olympiad in September last year when he became India’s top-rated player. He was the only player in the Open section to score six straight wins in the first six rounds. He finished the event with ten points in eleven rounds and his performance earned him an individual gold medal while also helping India to win their first ever team gold at the Olympiad.
The women have not far behind the men. Last year, Humpy became the world rapid chess champion for the second time. She had won the title for the first time in 2019 after coming back from a two-year maternity sabbatical besides being runner up in 2023. R. Vaishali, Pragg’s elder sister, along with her brother, became the first siblings to have GM titles besides being the first pair of siblings to qualify for the Candidates tournament. The 23-year-old Vaishali is no mean player himself enjoying a peak FIDE rating of 2506 last year.
In this healthy rivalry Indian chess is bound to benefit enormously. It is very clear that the players are competing with each other, pushing each other to greater heights. And with all this let us not forget the role played by Anand in making India a chess superpower. At 55, he is still very much around playing the role of mentor to all the players. Oh yes, viewed from any angle it is boom time for Indian chess.
(The writer is a veteran sports writer who spent his career working for The Indian Express and The Telegraph and Sportsworld. He lives in Chennai.)
from Webdoux