Goes past Anand in live ratings, looks to maintain consistency
Teenage Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa is the new No. 1 of Indian chess. With his win over world champion Ding Liren in the fourth round of the prestigious Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee on Tuesday, 18-year-old Prag managed a historic 'double'.
The Chennai lad not only became the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to defeat the classical reigning world champion in the traditional format but also surpassed the legend to become the country's No. 1 ranked player on live ratings.
After he downed Liren with black pieces in the Netherlands event, Prag (live rating of 2748.3) moved ahead of Anand (2748.0) and jumped to No. 11 in the world (the published ratings will be out at the beginning of Feb). It is to be recalled that GM D Gukesh, another Chennai lad, had temporarily held the India No. 1 spot in Aug-Sep 2023.
After having a field day at the office, Prag was on cloud nine. "It is a nice feeling to become India No. 1, even though it is on live ratings. I hope to get more points in the remaining games," said Prag, who has secured 2.5 points from four rounds at the event.
His coach, GM RB Ramesh, told TOI: "The win has made him the India No. 1 on live ratings. We hope that it is reflected in the published ratings. Defeating the world champion, especially in the classical format, is always special. He had beaten Magnus Carlsen in the shorter formats - rapid and blitz. So, we are really happy."
Ramesh added: "In my view, the good signs (for Prag becoming a future world champion in the classical format) were there a few years ago itself. He is young and has been improving phenomenally. Wins like these give more belief that we can achieve it." Prag was able to control the marquee contest against Liren, although he played with black pieces. "From the start, I was the one pushing for the win. I felt like I was pushing for victory without taking risks, which is a bonus with black," Prag added. Liren had taken an eight-month break from chess and is slowly getting back into the groove. There might have been some rustiness in his game and Prag made the most of it.
With more than two-thirds of the tournament remaining, Prag's immediate goal is to maintain consistency throughout.
"This is a tough tournament; we still have nine more rounds. Usually, we play nine rounds in a tournament. But in this one, we have 13 rounds; it feels like we are playing a tournament in addition to the one that we already have. My primary objective is to give my best in each of the games and see how it goes."
While Prag will be keen to gain momentum heading into the eight-man Candidates in April, Ramesh stressed that he is not looking at the ongoing tournament, which has a strong field, as the dress rehearsal for the marquee event.
"There are players here who will not be part of the Candidates, but Prag won't take anything lightly and wants to be at the top of his game," Ramesh said.
