Chennai: Indian Chess Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who won a silver medal in the FIDE World Cup 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan, has arrived in Chennai to a rousing reception of a troupe of students, relatives, and representatives from the State government and All India Chess Federation.
Outside the Chennai Airport, the gathering was seen waiving the tricolour while many others were seen holding banners of 'World Cup Runner Up'.
The Chess prodigy who made the entire nation proud with his exploits said he 'felt really great' and wants to become the World Champion.
"It feels really great. I think it is good for Chess," the Chess GM told the reporters, who mobbed him while he was holding a tricolour while he stood from a vehicle with a sunroof.
"I am very happy to see so many people coming here and it is good for Chess."
All India Chess Federation representatives and representatives of the Tamil Nadi government were at the airport to welcome India's rising star return to the country. Praggnanandhaa's sister Vaishali, who came to receive him was elated to see the kind of welcome her brother had received at the airport and said she was happy for him.
"I had witnessed something like this 10 years back when Viswanathan (Anand) sir had won a World Championship match. He had a fantastic welcome. We went to the airport actually to welcome him. It's amazing to see that Pragg is getting the same love from all the people" she said.
In the FIDE World Cup final match, the 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa, popularly known as Pragga, put up a stellar performance against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. However, Carlsen defeated Praggnanandhaa to clinch the title of the International Chess Federation World Cup and the Indian chess grandmaster had to settle for the position of runner-up of the 2023 FIDE World Cup.
He will draw hope from the fact that he has qualified for the FIDE Candidates tournament. The Norwegian chess grandmaster won the first game of the Rapid Chess tie-breaker with black pieces and managed to hold on for a draw in the second game with white pieces. Praggnanandhaa fought hard but fell short with Magnus Carlsen summoning all his big match experience when it mattered the most.
Earlier, Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen drew two games of Classical Chess. The 2024 Candidates Tournament will be an eight-player chess tournament scheduled to be held from April 2 to April 25, 2024 in Toronto, Canada. The winner of the tournament will become the challenger for the 2024 World Chess Championship match. Praggnanandhaa had an excellent tournament where he defeated World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura in a tie-breaker while reaching the final defeating World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana.
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Delighted to meet the brilliant young mind, @rpragchess, on his triumphant return to #Chennai! 🏆 #Praggnanandhaa's achievements bring glory to Tamil Nadu and the entire country. 🇮🇳🏅I had the honour of felicitating Praggnanandhaa with a memento and a reward of 30 lakh INR. This… pic.twitter.com/9xoUeXosh5
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 30, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">Delighted to meet the brilliant young mind, @rpragchess, on his triumphant return to #Chennai! 🏆 #Praggnanandhaa's achievements bring glory to Tamil Nadu and the entire country. 🇮🇳🏅I had the honour of felicitating Praggnanandhaa with a memento and a reward of 30 lakh INR. This… pic.twitter.com/9xoUeXosh5
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 30, 2023Delighted to meet the brilliant young mind, @rpragchess, on his triumphant return to #Chennai! 🏆 #Praggnanandhaa's achievements bring glory to Tamil Nadu and the entire country. 🇮🇳🏅I had the honour of felicitating Praggnanandhaa with a memento and a reward of 30 lakh INR. This… pic.twitter.com/9xoUeXosh5
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 30, 2023
Later in the afternoon, R Praggnanandhaa met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin here. The young prodigy was joined by his coach Ramesh RB, his father Rameshbabu, and his mother Nagalakshmi for this momentous occasion. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister handed over the Rs 30 lakh cheque to the Indian Grand Master.
Also read: Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin praises FIDE Runner-up Praggnanandhaa through a video call
