Baku lies 28 metres below sea level. No capital city in the world is situated lower. During the past one month, the Azerbaijan capital witnessed Indian chess soaring higher and higher, at the Chess World Cup.
First, D. Gukesh broke into the world’s top 10 and replaced five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand as India’s No. 1 in live rating (he is expected to remain in that exclusive club when the world chess governing body FIDE releases its September list). Gukesh is 17.
That was a fantastic feat, especially by someone so young. Few would have imagined it would be overshadowed by another Indian at Baku, the birthplace of Garry Kasparov, who was the world’s best player for more than two decades. R. Praggnanandhaa played a series of spectacular moves to reach the final of the World Cup, one of the most prestigious and gruelling tournaments in international chess.
