India’s teen chess champion who beat Magnus Carlsen is riding the wave of a revival nurtured in Chennai
- Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, aged 16, recently beat World No 1 Magnus Carlsen, and his win provided fresh inspiration for India’s keen young chess players
- Of India’s 73 grandmasters, 31 came from Tamil Nadu where the state made chess a compulsory subject in all government schools in 2012
It’s been a long time coming but India’s chess culture, nurtured over decades, is finally producing players who can keep the flag flying proudly, years after it was first raised aloft by world champion Viswanathan Anand in 1988.
The latest grandmaster is teenage chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who delighted Indians with his stunning victory over World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in an online championship – the Airthings Masters – on Sunday February 20.
His win has provided fresh inspiration for young chess players. The classic board game has always been reasonably popular in India, if only because they are proud of its origins, which date back to a game called Chaturanga that was invented here about 1,500 years ago.
The popularity of chess really soared after Anand’s success. He transformed the game for Indians after he won the world junior title in 1987, turning it into something young generations could aspire to for recognition, fame, and perhaps money.
When Anand achieved The Grandmaster title a year later, it was a first for India. Enthusiasm swept through the country and Indians went in droves to buy chess sets, briefly looking as though it might even eclipse the nation’s obsession with cricket. Anand, who is from Chennai in Tamil Nadu in the south, can take credit for the increased popularity of chess in India today.