How many of us achieved something internationally? Let’s admit we were struggling to figure out how to erase pen ink. We were probably busy deciding whether to choose cricket or volleyball as our favorite sports or may be spending our evening on 16-bit video games.
We are not saying it wasn’t learning or fun but what R Praggnanandhaa has done is certainly beyond our imagination. A 10-year-old boy is conquering a world of chess at the international level and most of us can not beat that.
At the KIIT International Festival of Chess in Bhubaneshwar, R Praggnanandhaa beat a Grandmaster and held off two others to seal his third and final International Master (IM) norm. He became the youngest chess player ever in history to achieve IM status.
The previous record was set by an 11-year-old boy Judit Polgar but Praggnanandhaa is just 10 years and 9 months old. The 10-year-old has another year and two months to break the youngest Grandmaster’s record.
This record is currently held by Sergey Karjakin.
A report in New Indian Express suggests that Praggnanandhaa was inspired by his sister to take up the game of Chess. Due to polio condition, his father could not accompany him to tournaments but his mother Nagalakshmi has stepped up and supported her son.
His father Ramesh Babu says that he owes a lot to his daughter and his wife. When Praggnanandhaa’s sister Vaishali started playing he had little idea what to do but when his son started, they were able to provide whatever he needed. He says that his sister’s guidance has guided him to reach this far.
Praggnanandhaa’s father is physically handicapped due to polio so his mother and sister take him everywhere.
Apart from a physically handicapped the next big challenge for this little geniuses family is to raise money so that he can get as much international exposure as possible.
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30 May 2016
Avni S. Singh