India watches as Pragg takes on Magnus Carlsen for chess world title

Going by the name of Pragg on the global chess circuit, Praggnanandhaa owns a rich CV. He became an international master at the age of 10, 10 months and 19 days; the youngest in the world to do so. He won the Grandmaster title at the age of 12 in 2018, the second youngest player to do so at the time. The same year, he gained his second norm at the Heraklion Fischer Memorial GM norm tournament in Greece. Pragg reached the 2600 mark in the ELO rating at the age of 14, once again a world record at the time. The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games.

In January 2023, Praggnanandhaa played in the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2023. He defeated a 2800-rated grandmaster, Ding Liren, his first time doing so in a classical game. He ended the tournament in 9th place with a score of 6/13.

Chess runs in Praggnanandhaa's family. Vaishali Rameshbabu, also a chess player, is four years elder sister to Praggnanandhaa. Vaishali was born on June 21, 2001, and has previously won the Girls' World Youth Chess Championship for Under-14s and Under-12s. She holds the FIDE titles of International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).

"I didn't expect to play Magnus in this tournament at all because the only way I could play him was in the final, and I didn't expect to be in the final. I will just try to give my best and see how it goes! It feels really good to qualify for the Candidates; I really wanted to fix this spot," he said after booking a spot in the summit clash.

Indian chess grandmaster and former five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand too hailed him for the historic win, he tweeted, "Pragg goes through to the final! He beats Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak and will face Magnus Carlsen now. What a performance!"