Post-Covid, the world of chess has been shaken up by the remarkable display of Indian prodigies. These youngsters, all under 20, are not just making their mark in the Junior Sections but also the Open Section. They’re causing huge upsets in Super Tournaments, qualifying for the Candidates in a convincing fashion, and breaking into the Top 10 Rankings in the world. Today, we spotlight three such SuperStars – GM Praggnanandhaa R, GM Gukesh D, and IM Divya Deshmukh.
GM Praggnanandhaa R has been making waves in the chess world. His victory in the World Cup last year, which helped him qualify for the Candidates, now seems like old news. Recently, he played in the Norway Chess, also known as the Wimbledon of Chess, and defeated World Number 1, Magnus Carlsen, in classical Chess. This feat is even more impressive considering he is one of the few under 20 years old who has done this multiple times. In the same tournament, he defeated World Number – Fabiano Caruana, proving yet again that he is a force to be reckoned with.
GM Gukesh D started playing chess at 7 years old. His coach, Vishnu Prasanna, had some unorthodox teaching methods that may have worked wonders for this Super kid. Gukesh believes his strength lies in his ability to calculate more deeply and accurately compared to his other GM opponents. This Super Phenom has become the youngest player ever to win the Candidates and become a World Championship Challenger. We are super excited to watch him battle it out against the current World Champion, Ding Liren, for the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH at the end of the year.
IM Divya Deshmukh has made waves in the women’s chess world. She recently won the Women’s Junior World Championship and dominated the field in the Tata Steel Chess 2023 in the Rapid Section, coming victorious ahead of Ju Wenjun, the reigning FIDE Women’s World Chess Champion. She has been on a hot streak since then, winning the Sharjah Open Challenger’s Title convincingly earlier this year in May 2024 and now the FIDE Women’s World Junior Chess Championship. Will she be the next Grandmaster from India? Only time will tell.
While GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM Vaishali are slightly older, they too have had phenomenal performances. Arjun has reached his peak World Number 4 from World Number 30 by dominating the Open tournaments. Vaishali, on the other hand, has had an amazing performance in the Candidates with a record of continuous 5 victories towards the end and also an amazing performance in the Norway Chess.
We are excited to follow their journeys and wish them all the best for the future. Let us know in the comments below which Prodigy looks promising for you guys in the future. Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, Vantika Agarwal, Savitha Shri?
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