Chennai, July 5: Last year, he fought tooth and nail against chess legend and World No 1 Magnus Carlsen. He defeated him recently in the Norway Chess Tournament in Classical Chess.
But India's 18-year-old chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa on Friday stated there is no rivalry between him and chess legend Carlsen, but they bring out the best in each other.
In fact, in Norway, Praggnanandhaa's first victory in Classical Chess over Carlsen stunned many. During the closing ceremony, Carlsen himself stated that his loss to Praggnanandhaa was, in fact, the most memorable match of the tournament for him.
Praggnanandhaa is now a household name in India and in the international chess circuit. The stock of the 18-year-old, currently in Romania for the Superbet Classical tournament, has been steadily rising. The Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger, where he finished behind Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, was another chapter in his illustrious career.
Reacting on his relationship with Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa said, "Whenever we play, the matches get interesting because we both enjoy being in that position. So we don't mind it. In fact, I think that's the reason our matches get so interesting," he stated.
At Norway, Praggnanandhaa won two, lost one and drew seven matches, in addition to his three Armageddon wins. He said he was happy with his performance in Norway, but felt there was scope for improvement.
Praggnanandhaa, D Gukesh and Pragg's sister Rameshbabu Vaishali are some great Indian chess talents, who are raring to dominate the global chess events.
