Prag can conquer world, says coach

Chennai: R. Praggnanandhaa of Chennai has put Indian chess on centre stage by becoming the world’s second youngest grandmaster at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Prag, an eighth standard student of Velammal School here, nailed the landmark feat at the 4th Gredine Open 2018 in Ortisei, Italy on Saturday.

At 12 years and seven months, Ukraine’s Sergey Karjakin holds the record. Karjakin and Prag are the only two players to become GMs before they turned 13.

Grandmaster R.B. Ramesh, Prag’s coach, said India’s youngest GM is a “phenomenal talent.”

“I’m not saying so because he is my student. He has the potential to become a world champion. It is up to him to reach his goal because the efforts of the individual are pivotal to success in chess. We, coaches, only have a supporting role,” he added.

According to Ramesh, Prag’s ambitions know no bounds.

“He not only wants to win the world championship one day; he also wants to cross 3000 in elo rating. Even the rating of the reigning world champion, Magnus Carlsen, is nowhere close to 3000,” he said.

The world has benefited a lot from youthful exuberance. Experience can curtail imagination. Prag had missed out on rewriting Karjakin’s record by only three months, although he had never been keen on being the youngest GM in the world. “Prag has vision for the long-term. He thinks far ahead of others. With the GM title in the bag, only a part of his career is complete. Prag should now look at the larger picture. He must concentrate on winning titles, polishing his game and improving mental strength,” Ramesh, who is a mentor to a host of promising chess players in Tamil Nadu and beyond.

Ramesh, who runs Chess Gurukul here, said Prag’s achievement would be beneficial to Indian chess on multiple fronts. “First of all, more and more children would start to believe in themselves. His achievement has turned the spotlight on chess. People who generally do not pay attention to chess would talk about the game. I hope sponsors will also come forward to support budding chess players,” he added.