Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, the chess prodigy, broke records and rose to the top of the Indian player rankings for the first time in his career. On January 16, at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zed, Netherlands, Praggnanandhaa accomplished the feat by defeating Ding Liren, the current world champion.
Praggnanandhaa, eighteen, surpassed his hero Viswanathan Anand in the live rankings of classical chess. With 2748.3 rating points, 0.3 higher than Viswanathan Anand, he shot up two spots to 11th overall. With an incredible victory, Praggnanandhaa advanced to the renowned tournament’s fourth round. In traditional chess, he is just the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, to defeat a current world champion.
Praggnanandhaa acquired an edge early on and kept it throughout his play with the black pieces. After beginning the competition with three draws, he defeated Ding Liren for the first time in four rounds. Viswanathan Anand, the first Indian grandmaster and five-time world chess champion, has been compared to him due to his ability to overcome world-class opponents, including World Champions.