“Smart Lad”: Gary Kasparov Praises Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa

Chess legend Gary Kasparov praised young grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa, who gave autographs to fans during the Rapid and Blitz tournament, and said the way he was giving signature means “hand doesn’t get sore so quickly”. Garry Gasparov posted a video on X with the caption: “Smart lad; a fast and short signature means your hand doesn’t get sore so quickly!” In 2023, he became the world’s youngest chess player to reach the World Cup final, and only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to achieve the feat.

Smart lad; a fast and short signature means your hand doesn’t get sore so quickly! https://t.co/4MzbbV5X4k

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) May 10, 2024

In 2022, the shy and soft-spoken teenager caused heads to turn in the world of chess by defeating Magnus Carlsen multiple times, shining the spotlight on India’s progress. The Chennai-based Praggnanandhaa, who loves mathematics and unwinds by watching TV or listening to Tamil music, also won the silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

Praggnanandhaa started playing at the tender age of 5 and went on to become India’s youngest and the then world’s second-youngest Grandmaster at age 12 in 2018. He is the fifth-youngest person to achieve the title of Grandmaster after Abhimanyu Mishra, Sergey Karjakin, Gukesh D and Javokhir Sindarov.

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