'Met Rajnikanth uncle today': India chess star Praggnanandhaa recalls 'day to remember'

Indian chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa on Saturday met Superstar Rajinikanth at his residence in Chennai. Praggnanandhaa visited Rajinikanth's home with his family, including his father, mother, and elder sister. The 16-year-old chess grandmaster took to his official Twitter handle to share pictures from his visit to Rajinikanth's house. Praggnanandhaa expressed his admiration for Rajinikanth's humility, saying that he was inspired by his humbleness despite reaching great heights.

One of the photos shows Praggnanandhaa handing Rajinikanth a chess board, and another picture shows him giving the legendary actor a religious image. A third photo shows Rajinikanth posing with Praggnanandhaa and his family, including his elder sister R Vaishali, who is a Woman Grandmaster. 

"A day to remember!!! Met @rajinikanth uncle today with my family! Inspired by his humbleness despite reaching great heights! #Respect #Magizchi (sic)," Praggnanandhaa tweeted. 

Praggnanandhaa is part of the Indian contingent at the upcoming Chess Olympiad, which is scheduled to be held in Chennai from July 28 to August 10. Praggnanandhaa has been frequently posting photos from his training sessions on social media. On Twitter, he recently shared a picture of himself posing in front of Chennai's Napier Bridge, which has been painted in black and white to resemble a chessboard in preparation for the 44th Chess Olympiad.

Praggnanandhaa's achievements in 2022

Praggnanandhaa recently won the Paracin Open 'A' tournament, which was held in Serbia from July 8 to July 16. Praggnanandhaa won the tournament after scoring 8 points from nine rounds. He also won the Norway Chess Group A open chess tournament in June this year. Praggnanandhaa, who scored 7.5 points, finished a full point ahead of second-placed Marsel Efroimski of Israel and Jung Min Seo of Sweden.

Earlier this year, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest chess player to defeat world champion, Magnus Carlsen. Praggnanandhaa beat Carlsen in a rapid game at the Airthings Masters Rapid Chess Tournament on February 22. Praggnanandhaa became only the third Indian player after Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna to win a chess game against Carlsen. In May this year, Praggnanandhaa defeated Carlsen for the second time to reach the finals at the Chessable Masters.

(Image: @RPraggnanandhaa/Twitter)