Abhimanyu Mishra became the world’s youngest Grandmaster at the age of 12 in 2021. He still has that record. He is also the youngest player to defeat a reigning World champion. Excerpts from an interview Abhimanyu gave The Hindu in Bengaluru, where he played for PBG Alaskan Knights in the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League:

How do you look back at your journey of becoming the youngest Grandmaster?

It was part of a bucket list. It was in the middle of the pandemic. Everything in the world had shut down, and I desperately wanted to break this record. I went eight months without playing any tournament. Me and my dad decided to take this insurmountable risk. I am not sure if I would take the same risk today. We went to a different country in the middle of a global pandemic, and if either of us got the virus, we would be admitted to a hospital. It would have been an absolute nightmare.

But despite all odds, we decided to take the risk. Taking the risk was one thing, but getting the title was another. I had a rating of about 2410 and no Grandmaster norms (a player needs three). I think I scored norms from two of the first three events, and after that I hit a dry streak. I had to hit the rating of 2500 for the Grandmaster title. I was missing the final norm narrowly. But I made it in cinematic style in the last tournament. I needed to win with black pieces against [India’s] Leon Mendonca, and I did. I was euphoric that this journey was finally over for me and my family.

You had another interesting game with Mendonca here at the GCL. From a winning position, you put your promoted queen on the wrong square, and he claimed it was an illegal move. The arbiter agreed, and you had to replay the move in one second, which was humanly impossible. And you lost on time…

We would have needed an F1 driver to make a move so fast. But I am okay with the claim made by Leon. It is what you do, especially in a team event, where every point matters. I would have done the same. I would do a lot worse actually.

Your thoughts on your maiden GCL?

I actually wanted to play last year, but it did not work out. I had some school obligations and some other stuff, so unfortunately I couldn’t play. I was determined to play this year. I had been following the GCL from the beginning and I found it entertaining. This is a very strong event. We have the world’s best players.

From the spectators’ point of view too, it is an exciting event. It is good to see the audience cheering for you from inside the venue. It actually gives chess a new life in some regard. I loved being part of my GCL team, PBG Alaskan Knights. We had [Viswanathan] Anand, who is one of the greatest players of all time. There was Arjun Erigaisi, who is very creative and an absolute madman. I love his creativity, and the way he can transform any game into a very sharp, complicated minefield.

Arjun also has the ability to take risks, and that is very important. He doesn’t mind being in a minus position, according to the computer, but as long as he is comfortable, he would go for anything. We also had in our team Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who is very, very strong.

Your thoughts on the other prodigies of Indian chess – Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin?

Gukesh has this ability to bounce back from very tough situations. Yes, his recent form hasn’t been good, but it happens sometimes. I am sure he will be back to his best. Pragg has had a phenomenal run of late, and he is mentally strong, like we saw recently in the Grand Chess Tour final against Fabiano Caruana. He was down by six points at one stage, but came back and won the match. Nihal is very tricky and does well in time scrambles. I have played with him a lot online and he is very, very strong in bullet chess.

You beat Gukesh at the Grand Swiss last year and became the youngest player to beat a defending World champion…

That was a very interesting game. Before the start, I realised I had two options. I was white, yes, so I could play something solid and I could try to press a little bit. But he is very strong, so it was unlikely I would be able to create real chances and win unless he made some very big mistakes.

The other choice was that I could view this game as a unique opportunity to create history. If I had lost that game, no one would have remembered, but it was an opportunity to beat the World champion.

That’s something I wanted to. So I decided to play the sharpest line in my repertoire (Bg5 in the Italian Game) but he has one of the world’s greatest opening preparations. He had come prepared for this, and I was thinking over the board, and I had this idea to sacrifice a piece. You are playing against the World champion, so sacrificing a piece is probably the last thing to do.

But I was trying to replicate what Arjun does in these scenarios. I mean, it was fine as long as I understood what I was doing in this position. During the Grand Swiss, I felt like I was sort of untouchable. I was in a very good state of mind, and it was like I would play my best chess.

If Gukesh wanted, he could have made a draw. But he desperately wanted to win. He has this hunger even after becoming World champion… he still wants to kill everybody. This is both a positive and negative trait, but I believe if you want to reach the very top, you need to be like this. You will lose games, but you will win more. In our game, he tried to do this, but it backfired, and I found some very accurate moves. I got to a rook ending, and then clearly converted my advantage.

There doesn’t seem to be as much support for chess in the United States as in a country like India…

Yes, it is quite difficult to be a full-time chess player in the USA. I don’t really have sponsors, but I am a very positive person. I hope things can still work. And yes, the Kasparov Chess Foundation has been supporting me.

Published – September 19, 2026 06:30 am IST

New Delhi:

Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, on Sunday lauded 18-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, calling him “incredible” for winning against world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen and no. 2 Fabiano Caruana in classical chess at the 2024 Norway Chess tournament.

The Indian Grandmaster beat Caruana in Round 5 after defeating five-time world champion Carlsen in Round 3 in the chess competition in Stavanger, Norway.

“Incredible Praggnanandhaa!,” said Gautam Adani, in a post on the social media platform X.

Incredible Praggnanandhaa! Beating both World No.1 Magnus Carlsen and No.2 Fabiano Caruana in classical chess at #NorwayChess is mindblowing. You’re on a roll and still just 18! Keep the tricolour flying high. All the very best, @rpraggnachess! https://t.co/HJfCXA1UBl

— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) June 2, 2024

“Beating both World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen and no. 2 Fabiano Caruana in classical chess at #NorwayChess is mindblowing. You’re on a roll and still just 18! Keep the tricolour flying high. All the very best,” added the Adani Group Chairman.

Defeating the champions made the teen sensation among the top 10 in the International Chess Federation’s world ranking.

“PRAGG IS BACK Young prodigy Praggnanandhaa stuns the chess world again by defeating World no. 2 Fabiano Caruana in Round 5!” the official handle of Norway Chess said in a post on X.

“After toppling World no. 1 Magnus Carlsen in Round 3, he’s now beaten the top two players in classical chess for the first time ever, rocketing into the top 10! What a tournament for the Indian prodigy #NorwayChess,” it added.

Meanwhile, Pragg’s sister Vaishali continued her dominant performance by defeating the legendary Pia Cramling, extending her lead to a total of 8.5 points.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)

Chennai:

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Sreedhara Somanath met Indian chess player Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa at his house in Chennai on Monday. The ISRO chief gave a replica miniature of the GSLV rocket to the chess player as an encouraging gift and wished him all success in his upcoming matches.

During Mr Somanath’s visit, Mr Praggnanandhaa showed his prizes to him and expressed his wishes for the success of ISRO scientists and for the future Mission Gaganyaan.

Praggnanandhaa’s father Ramesh Babu was also there when Mr Somanath met the chess player in Chennai on Monday.

#WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: ISRO Chairman S Somanath meets Indian Chess Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa at his residence in Chennai pic.twitter.com/iDx27xqBIs

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2023

While speaking with Mr Praggnanandhaa, ISRO chief Somanath said that Pragyan Rover is sleeping continuously now but the chess player should be active to make India proud in the upcoming days.

While speaking to the press, Mr Somanath said that he is very proud of what he has achieved and hoped that he will become the world’s number one chess player soon.

He added that Prag is on the ground and ISRO has Pragyan on the Moon.

The ISRO chief further said that Mr Praggnanandhaa will be working with the space agency to promote space in India.

“We are very proud of him for his accomplishments and also for his world ranking, 15 now. I believe in the coming days he will become world number one. He is Praggnan on the ground, and we have Pragyan on the Moon. What we have achieved on the moon, he has done it on land. He will also be working with us in promoting space,” Mr Somanath said.

#WATCH | Chennai, Tamil Nadu: ISRO Chairman S Somanath says, “Like every Indian, we are very proud of him (Praggnanandhaa) for his accomplishment. He is a world no. 15 now… He will become world no. 1… Chess is an old game started in India… We are the origin place of it…… pic.twitter.com/0YEdA5say5

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2023

Following the ISRO chief’s visit, Mr Praggnanandhaa said that it was a proud moment that Mr Somanath visited them. The chess also added that he got an invitation from Mr Somanath to visit Sriharikota.

“It is a very proud thing that he has visited us. He also invited me to visit Sriharikota where rockets are being launched. We are very proud of what ISRO has achieved,” Mr Praggnanandhaa said.

On August 24, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated grandmaster Praggnanandhaa to clinch the title of the International Chess Federation World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. He fought hard but fell short with Carlsen summoning all his big match experience when it mattered the most.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)