Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa becomes India's No. 1 chess player, defeats World Champion

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, a chess prodigy, has secured the top position among Indian chess players following his victory over World Champion Ding Liren at the 2024 Tata Steel Chess tournament.

The 18-year-old, who outplayed the reigning champion with black pieces, has surpassed Viswanathan Anand, a legendary figure in Indian chess.

Expressing surprise at his victory, Praggnanandhaa stated that he felt he equalized very easily and things started going wrong for his opponent.

He also noted the significance of his victory over a world champion in classical chess, stating it feels good. Praggnanandhaa started playing chess at the age of 5.

At the age of twelve, Praggnanandhaa became the second-youngest Grandmaster in the world and the youngest in India in 2018. Acknowledged for his extraordinary abilities and accomplishments, he is the fifth-youngest Grandmaster to date.

The world's first brother-sister GM team was formed when his older sister, R Vaishali, unexpectedly became a Grandmaster as well.

Grandmaster Anish Giri became the only leader going into the first rest day in the Tata Steel Chess tournament's Masters division. Giri's dominating position in the tournament was aided by his cunning manoeuvres and triumph over D Gukesh.