The struggle is worth more than records

by Aditya Pai
4/4/2018 – R Praggnanandhaa had been making headlines ever since he became the world's youngest IM in May 2016. All eyes were on the little genius, with everyone eager to see if he could become the world's youngest GM too. The kid gave it his all, and as the deadline to break the record approached closer, he travelled across the globe playing every tournament that offered him the possibility of scoring a norm. But, in the end, he lost the race against time. However, Praggna earned heaps of admiration and love, and, most importantly, his zeal to excel remains undeterred. So, all things considered, wasn't the struggle worth a lot more than the record? | Photo: Lennart Ootes Reykjavik Open Facebook page

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No record, no problem

Just a couple of years ago, the world of chess was abuzz with the news of an eleven-year-old boy becoming the world’s youngest International Master (IM) ever. To be accurate, he was not even 11; he was only 10 years and 10 months and 19 days old and already the boy was making headlines. His name: Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. The umpteen syllables in his name discouraged many from even trying to pronounce his name. But they knew they would have to, sooner or later. After all, the boy was rewriting record books.

Praggnanandhaa at the Reykjavik Open 2018

Praggnanandhaa at the Reykjavik Open 2018 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Now that he was the youngest International Master in the history of the game, the next big question was if he will break Sergey Karjakin’s record and become the youngest Grandmaster (GM) as well. He had almost a year more than Karjakin did back in 2002. Karjakin had become an IM at the age of 11 years and 11 months and about eight months later, he completed all requirements for his GM title. By this time, Karjakin was 12 years and 7 months old. So the target for Praggnanandhaa was clear. He had to complete all his GM norms and reach 2500 Elo before the 10th of March 2018.

This new chase was a long and arduous one. Beating several Grandmasters along the way — most notably, his 18 move win against GM Alex Bachman at the 2016 Isle of Man Masters — Praggnanandhaa reached the rating milestone of Elo 2500 in the August of 2017. No norms were scored yet but Praggnanandhaa still had seven months.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qd2 Bg7 5.Bh6 0-0 6.Bxg7 Kxg7 7.0-0-0 c5 8.e3 Nc6 9.f3 c4 10.e4 b5 11.exd5 Nb4 12.Nxb5 Nxa2+ 13.Kb1 Qxd5 14.Na3 c3 15.bxc3 Rb8+ 16.Ka1 Qa5 17.Kxa2 Nd5 18.Ne2 Be6 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Axel Bachmann Schiavo-Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa-0–12016A45Isle of Man Open9.21

A big opportunity arose at the World Junior Championship that was held later in the year in the month of November. As per the rules of the tournament, the winner is awarded the Grandmaster title if the winning player isn’t already a GM. The big hurdle, however, was the field itself. Despite being rated above 2500, Praggnanandhaa was the 25th seed in the tournament. Not to mention, this was an Under-20 event. Praggnanandhaa was merely 12; most of his opponents were much more experienced and, in most cases, even higher rated. But Praggnanandhaa, too, hadn’t reached this far without beating odds.

He got off to a strong start, winning two and drawing one out of his first three games. And in the fourth round, he beat the top seed of the tournament Jorden van Foreest. By this point, it seemed that the lad might just make it to the title. But in the second half of the tournament, he slowed down. In his last five games, Praggnanandhaa scored only one win while drawing four. Of course, for a 12-year-old, this performance was remarkable. But it was not enough to win the tournament and, along with it, the GM title. Scoring an unbeaten 8.0/9, he finished fourth and earned his first GM norm.

 
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1.e4 30 e5 60 2.Nf3 30 Nc6 0 3.Bc4 0 Bc5 0 4.0-0 0 Nf6 30 5.d3 30 d6 30 6.c3 30 a6 30 7.Bb3 30 Ba7 30 8.Re1 90 0-0 90 9.h3 30 h6 90 10.Nbd2 30 Re8 30 11.Nf1 30 Be6 30 12.Bc2 30 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3 Qd7 14.Bxe6 Qxe6 15.c4 Ne7 16.Nd5 Nexd5 17.cxd5 Qd7 18.d4 c6 19.dxc6 Qxc6 ½-½ (71) Kramnik,V (2808)-So,W (2812) Stavanger 2017 12...d5 30 13.exd5 30 Nxd5 30 14.Ng3 150 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Rxe5 Bxf2+ 15...Qf6 16.Re2 16.Kxf2 Qf6+ 14...Qd6 30 15.Nh4 210 Qe7 0 16.Qh5 390 LiveBook: 3 Games
16.Nhf5 Qf6 17.Qh5 g6 18.Nxh6+ Kf8 19.Qf3 Qxf3 20.gxf3 f5 21.d4 exd4 22.Bb3 Na5 23.Rxe6 Rxe6 24.Bxd5 Re1+ 25.Nf1 Rd8 26.Nxf5 Re5 27.Bh6+ Ke8 28.Ng7+ Kd7 29.Be4 Rh8 30.Bf4 Re7 31.Bg5 Rxg7 32.Bf6 Rgg8 33.Bxh8 Rxh8 34.cxd4 Rxh3 35.Ne3 Nc6 36.Kg2 Rh8 37.d5 Ne5 38.f4 Bxe3 39.fxe5 Bf4 40.e6+ Kd6 41.Bxg6 Be5 42.Bf7 Rh2+ 43.Kf3 Bxb2 44.Re1 Bf6 45.Kg3 Rh6 46.Rb1 Bh4+ 47.Kg2 Rf6 48.f3 Rf5 49.Rxb7 Rxd5 50.f4 Rb5 51.Ra7 Ra5 52.Kh3 Bf2 53.Ra8 Be3 54.Kg3 Ra4 55.f5 Bg5 56.Bh5 Ra3+ 57.Bf3 Be7 58.Rg8 Rxa2 59.Rg6 Ke5 60.Rg7 Bd6 61.Kg4 Rh2 62.e7 Rh8 63.Kg5 Bb4 64.Bc6 Bd2+ 65.Kg6 Rh6+ 66.Kf7 Rf6+ 67.Kg8 1-0 (67) Van Foreest,J (2557)-Lorparizangeneh,S (2449) Moscow 2016 16.Nf3 Rad8 17.Bd2 Qd6 18.Nh4 Nf4 19.Ngf5 Bxf5 20.Nxf5 Qg6 21.Bxf4 Bxf2+ 22.Kxf2 Qxf5 23.Qg4 Qxf4+ 24.Qxf4 exf4 25.d4 Ne7 26.Kf3 g5 27.h4 Kg7 28.hxg5 hxg5 29.Re5 f6 30.Re2 Ng6 31.Rae1 Rxe2 32.Rxe2 Rh8 33.Bxg6 Kxg6 34.Re7 Rh7 35.Re8 Kf5 36.a4 Rh1 37.g4+ fxg3 38.Kxg3 Rg1+ 39.Kf3 g4+ 40.Kf2 Rb1 41.b4 Kf4 0-1 (43) Souleidis, G (2397)-Praggnanandhaa,R (2487) Barcelona 2017 16...Rad8N 0
Predecessor: 16...Nf4 17.Bxf4 exf4 18.Ne4 Rad8 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Qxf5 ½-½ (41) Onischuk,V (2593)-Efimenko,Z (2641) Baku 2014 17.d4! 570 17.Bxh6? gxh6 18.d4 Qg5-+ 17...Nf4 30 17...Nf6 18.Qf3 17...exd4 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Qxh6+- 18.Bxf4! 30 exf4 0 19.Nf1 210 19.Ngf5 Qg5 19...Qf6?! 2760 19...Rd5! 20.Qf3 20.Qxd5 Bxd5 21.Rxe7 Rxe7 20...Qg5= 20...Qxh4 21.Qxd5+- 20.Nf3 1650 Re7 930 21.Bb3 570 Bxb3? 90 21...Qf5! 22.Qxf5 Bxf5 23.N1d2 Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 Kf8∞ 22.axb3 30 Rde8 390 23.N1d2 887 Nd8 370 24.b4± 316 c6 41 25.Qg4 275 Rxe1+ 105 26.Rxe1 0 Rxe1+ 290 27.Nxe1 24 Ne6 92 28.Nd3 100 Qg5 412 29.Ne4 328 Qxg4 12 30.hxg4 5 Kf8 3 31.Kf1 59 31.Ndc5 Nxc5 32.bxc5+- 31...Ke7 48 32.Ke2 42 g5 135 33.Ndc5 90 Bxc5 112 33...Nxc5 34.Nxc5 Bxc5 35.bxc5 34.bxc5 38 Ng7 20 35.Nd6 79 b5 1
36.Kd3 26 36.Kf3!± h5 37.gxh5 Nxh5 38.Kg4 36...Ke6 16 36...h5± keeps fighting. 37.Ke4 30 h5 4 38.f3 59 hxg4 119 39.fxg4 30 a5? 31
39...f6 was necessary. 40.b4 Kd7 But this should also lose in the long term. 40.Nb7! 0 a4 112 41.Nd8+ 250 Kd7 150 42.Nxf7 30 Ne6 30 43.Ne5++- 30 Kc7 30 44.Nxc6 Kxc6 45.d5+
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Praggnanandhaa R2509Van Foreest,J26161–02017C54WJCC U20 Juniors 20174.3

Now he had only four months and fifteen days to break the record. Over the last few months, Praggnanandhaa almost has been living out of a suitcase. Since December, he has travelled to four continents playing norm tournaments but has missed out every time. After the Aeroflot Open, held each February in Moscow, it became clear that he would not be able to break Karjakin’s record. However, he did get to play two games against the youngest GM ever in the Blitz tournament that was held on the last day of Aeroflot.

Praggnanandhaa during his game against Sergey Karjakin at the Aeroflot blitz 2018

Praggnanandhaa at the Aeroflot Blitz against Karjakin | Frame: Live webcast

In the first game, Praggnanandhaa had the upper hand in the position and gave Karjakin a run for his money. There was no doubt that Praggna had dominated throughout the game. But he blundered at a crucial moment and allowed Karjakin to wriggle out with a draw. In the second game, Karjakin knew what he was faced with and played accurately with the white pieces to come out victorious in the mini-match with a score of 1½ : ½.

After the tournament, when Karjakin was asked about Praggnanandhaa, the former world championship challenger said, “Of course, it’s very clear that he is a great talent and he has a big future in chess.”

Sergey Karjakin knows a thing or two about prodigies | ChessBase India YouTube

What’s all the more important is that Praggnanandhaa is extremely passionate towards playing chess and has a fierce zeal to win. RB Ramesh, Praggnanandhaa’s coach, thinks that this drive is something that sets him apart from other kids of his age. "Praggu has immense drive, which is difficult to spot at this age. Generally, after a few rounds, many kids tire and stop. But there’s no stopping him", Ramesh says. "He keeps on playing as if he’s unhappy if he couldn’t beat every player inside the hall".

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Aditya Pai is an ardent chess fan, avid reader, and a film lover. He holds a Master's in English Literature and used to work as an advertising copywriter before joining the ChessBase India team.

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