This Indian chess prodigy shocked the world. RT reveals the story of the people behind his success

The family of grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who made headlines last week for reaching the World Cup final, speak to RT about their shared journey

At the recent Chess World Cup, it was a middle-aged woman without much knowledge of the intricacies of this cerebral game who grabbed the headlines. It was a role for which N. Nagalakshmi – the mother of 18-year-old Indian grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the youngest-ever World Cup finalist – was least prepared.

Praggnanandhaa created a sensation at the World Cup in Baku last week, beating the second and third seeds before taking top seed Magnus Carlsen all the way to a tie-breaker in the final.

Praggnanandhaa – nicknamed Pragg – was only the second Indian ever to reach the World Cup final, after the legendary Viswanathan Anand.

After several days and four intense games, Carlsen eventually prevailed to win the World Cup title for the first time in his gilded career. However, the fact that chess prodigy Pragg dragged the Norwegian to a tie-breaker was celebrated back in India, and symbolically coincided with the nation’s Chandrayaan-3 mission landing on the Moon.

https://www.rt.com/india/581976-indian-chess-prodigy-shocked-the-world/