4/11/2024 – Praggnanandhaa R (pictured) and Vidit Gujrathi scored full points in round 6 of the Candidates Tournament. Pragg inflicted a second consecutive defeat on Nijat Abasov, while Vidit got the better of an overly daring Alireza Firouzja. The remaining two games ended drawn, which leaves Gukesh D and Ian Nepomniachtchi still tied for first place in the standings. Pragg now stands a half point back, with as many points as Fabiano Caruana. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

4/7/2024 – Praggnanandhaa R scored the only victory of round 3 at the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. The Indian prodigy played a sharp system in the Ruy Lopez to take down Vidit Gujrathi with the black pieces. Three players are now sharing the lead with 2 points each: Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh D. Pragg and Vidit stand a half point behind. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza

3/5/2024 – An exciting sixth round at the Masters tournament in Prague saw Praggnanandhaa taking down frontrunner Nodirbek Abdusattorov — who remains as the sole leader despite the loss. Parham Maghsoodloo, who entered the round in sole second place, was defeated by Thai Dai Van Nguyen, while Vincent Keymer beat Vidit Gujrathi and Mateusz Bartel got the better of Gukesh. In the Challengers, Ediz Gurel is now the sole leader, as Anton Korobov, who was sharing first place before round 6, was defeated by Maxim Rodshtein. | Photo: Mark Livshitz

3/3/2024 – A smooth victory over Mateusz Bartel allowed Nodirbek Abdusattorov to become the sole leader of the Masters section in the Prague Chess Festival. Praggnanandhaa R and David Navara also scored full points in an eventful fifth round, the last one before the rest day. In the Challengers, Anton Korobov and Ediz Gurel continue to be the co-leaders, as both players obtained victories on Saturday. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

2/27/2024 – The sixth edition of the Prague Chess Festival kicked off at the Don Giovanni Hotel in the Czech capital. In the Masters, Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Parham Maghsoodloo started with wins to become the tournament’s early co-leaders. Pragg’s victory, over Vincent Keymer, was remarkable, as the Indian star sacrificed a piece early on and managed to convert his attack into a full point while facing a tough defensive effort by his opponent. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

1/24/2024 – Five games ended decisively, all favouring the player who had the white pieces, in round 9 of the Tata Steel Masters. Praggnanandhaa R. and Nodirbek Abdusattorov scored victories and joined the 4-player leading pack, which also includes Gukesh D. and Anish Giri. Former co-leader Alireza Firouzja, on his part, was defeated by Alexander Donchenko. Firouzja is now one of three players standing a half point behind the leaders. In the Challengers, Marc’Andria Maurizzi remains atop the standings after beating Divya Deshmukh. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Jurriaan Hoefsmit

1/17/2024 – Anish Giri scored a second consecutive win to become the sole leader at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. The defending champion defeated Gukesh D. with the white pieces. Two more games ended decisively in round 4: Wei Yi beat Parham Maghsoodloo, while Praggnanadhaa R. got the better of Ding Liren — Pragg had also beat Ding in the 2023 edition. In the Challengers, Hans Niemann, Anton Korobov and Erwin l’Ami are sharing the lead after winning their games on Tuesday. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

9/9/2023 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu had a strong showing on day 1 of the Tata Steel India Blitz tournament. The youngster grabbed five wins in a row at the start of the event, but then suffered a few setbacks, which did not prevent him from ending the day as the sole leader. Vidit Gujrathi and Alexander Grischuk are sharing second place a half point behind Pragg. | Photo: Vivek Sohani

8/22/2023 – Praggnanandhaa reached the final of the FIDE World Cup after knocking out Fabiano Caruana in tiebreaks. An incredibly level-headed teenager, Pragg thus confirmed his qualification to the Candidates Tournament. In the final, the Indian prodigy is set to face Magnus Carlsen, who got the better of local hero Nijat Abasov by a 1½-½ score in the classical phase of their semifinal match. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

8/18/2023 – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu beat his good friend Arjun Erigaisi in a series of tense rapid and blitz tiebreaks to reach the semifinals of the FIDE World Cup. The 18-year-old all but secured a spot in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament. Meanwhile, in the women’s category, Nurgyul Salimova upset Anna Muzychuk to reach the final of the event. Salimova thus qualified to the Women’s Candidates, while Muzychuk will face Tan Zhongyi for a spot in the all-important event. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

8/17/2023 – Nijat Abasov, the 69th seed in the open section of the FIDE World Cup, has all but secured a spot in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament, as he beat Vidit Gujrathi with white to knock him out of the event. Since Magnus Carlsen, his next opponent, also reached the semifinals and is very likely to skip the Candidates, the Azerbaijani will not even need to finish among the top-3 to reach the 8-player World Championship qualifier. Fabiano Caruana also advanced to the semifinals, while Praggnanandhaa bounced back in his match against Arjun Erigaisi. Among the women, Aleksandra Goryachkina drew Tan Zhongyi and made it through to the final. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

8/11/2023 – One day after turning 18 years old, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu got to knock Hikaru Nakamura out of the FIDE World Cup. Other players who advanced to the round-of-16 by winning Friday’s tiebreakers were Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi and fan favourite Vasyl Ivanchuk. In the women’s section, Elisabeth Paehtz left world champion Ju Wenjun out of contention. | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage

7/17/2023 – Four games, four wins — that was Praggnanandhaa’s tally at the start of Geza Hetenyi Memorial in Budapest. Pragg thus became the eighth Indian to break the 2700-elamark. However, the Indian speed train was stopped in the fifth round when he lost to Amin Tabatabaei. The prodigy returned to his winning ways the very next round, as he defeated Peter Prohazka with black on Sunday. | Photo: Zoltan Fülöp

6/25/2023 – One Berlin fell, the other one didn't. Magnus Carlsen's Berlin did not hold up against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. However, D Gukesh's Berlin proved to be strong enough to hold Alexander Grischuk to a draw. It was R Praggnanandhaa's win against Javokhir Sindarov which helped SG Alpine Warriors beat upGrad Mumba Masters. It was a win by a minimum margin 0-3 (7-8). Before that, upGrad Mumba Masters handed Ganges Grandmasters their first defeat of the event. Despite MVL losing to Vishy Anand, Grischuk and Harika Dronavalli's key victories ensured the fall of GG. Monday’s action kicks off at 5:30 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST. | Photo: Maria Emelianova

5/19/2023 – Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun scored a second consecutive upset win to go into round 3 of the Sharjah Masters sharing the lead with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (pictured). Ju got the better of third seed Vidit Gujrathi with the black pieces, while Pragg defeated Raunak Sadhwani with white. A total of 25 players stand a half point behind the leading duo, including top seeds Parham Maghsoodloo and Dommaraju Gukesh. | Photos: Tournament’s Facebook page

3/31/2023 – I had the incredible opportunity to interview R.B. Ramesh, one of the world's most renowned and accomplished chess coaches. Ramesh has trained many of India's top players, including former World Champion Vishwanathan Anand, and has helped mold the country into a chess powerhouse. In our interview, Ramesh shared his insights on a range of topics, from his early days in chess to his coaching philosophy and techniques. He also discussed the challenges of coaching at the highest level and the importance of mental preparation in chess. With his vast knowledge and experience, Ramesh provided invaluable insights into what it takes to become a successful chess player, both on and off the board. Overall, the interview provided a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the greatest chess coaches of our time.

2/18/2023 – Levon Aronian is now the sole leader at the WR Chess Masters in Düsseldorf. The Armenian ace, representing the United States since 2021, defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov from the white side of a Sicilian Dragon in a rather lopsided game. Meanwhile, in the one game of the day featuring two youngsters, Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer, also with white. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

1/29/2023 – Nodirbek Abdusattorov continues to lead the standings with one round to go at the Tata Steel Masters. Anish Giri, who is in sole second place a half point back, escaped with a draw from an exciting game against Jorden van Foreest. Magnus Carlsen, on his part, failed to convert his advantage into a full point against Praggnanandhaa. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, Alexander Donchenko scored a third consecutive win and secured first place with a round to spare. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

1/22/2023 – In the most eventful round of the 2023 Tata Steel Masters so far, Nodirbek Abdusattorov extended his lead to a full point after obtaining a remarkable win over Arjun Erigaisi. Sharing second place are now four players, as Wesley So and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu both scored full points to join Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana in the chasing pack. In the Challengers, Alexander Donchenko is in clear first place after beating former co-leader Mustafa Yilmaz with the white pieces. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

1/18/2023 – Round 4 of the Tata Steel Masters saw the two highest-rated players in the world losing on adjacent boards, as Anish Giri and Praggnanandhaa defeated Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren respectively. Giri is now sharing the lead with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who got the better of Parham Maghsoodloo. In the Challengers, four decisive results left three players sharing the lead on 3/4 points. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

1/11/2023 – The new generation of chess stars is here, with no fewer than nine players aged 19 or younger rated above 2650 at the time. In a 7-part series, we will look at the performances of the top juniors in 2022. The second-youngest in the list — only older than Gukesh — is Praggnanandhaa. In 2022, the 17-year-old faced both ambitious rising stars (in open events) and the very best in the world (mostly online). And he excelled in both types of tournaments! | Photo: Alina l’Ami

11/19/2022 – Magnus Carlsen has a 4-point lead with two rounds to go at the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals. The world champion defeated Le Quang Liem in Armageddon, as he remains the big favourite to take the title. Praggnanandhaa beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda, also in Armageddon, while Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi won their matches ‘in regulation’.

11/17/2022 – All four matches in round 3 of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Finals lasted three games, as Magnus Carlsen, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Wesley So and Praggnanandhaa all secured clear victories which granted them 3 match points for the standings. Carlsen and Duda continue to share the lead, now no fewer than 5 points ahead of their closest chasers.

11/5/2022 – Praggnanandhaa and Nandhidhaa P V won the open and women’s sections of the 2022 Asian Championships, respectively. Praggnanandhaa took the sole lead in round 8, and a draw in his final game was enough for the 17-year-old to win the open. Nandhidhaa, aged 26, claimed tournament victory with one round to spare. | Photos: All India Chess Federation and Shahid Ahmed