Praggnanandhaa's run in World Cup will boost Indian chess, say players and officials

The wonderful run of R Praggnanandhaa in the FIDE Chess World Cup will power Indian chess to further heights globally, said a set of players and officials. Praggnanandhaa finished runner-up to world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen on Thursday in the Chess World Cup at Baku, Azerbaijan.

"This is a wonderful moment for Indian chess. It doesn't matter that Praggnanandhaa could not win the World Cup.He showed tremendous fight against strong player like Carlsen on a big occasion," DP Anantha, vice-president of Indian Chess Federation and secretary of Karnataka State Chess Association, told PTI. Anantha said Praggnanandhaa's feat will propel the profile of Indian chess in international stages.

"India is slowly becoming a chess powerhouse globally. Now, we have a World Cup finalist after (Viswanathan) Anand. Earlier, nations like Russia, USA and Europeans were dominant in chess. Now, it is changing.

"We already have more than 70 Grand Masters in India and the day is not far away when we (will) have over 100 GMs. I am certain that Praggnanandhaa's effort will work as a motivation for all upcoming players like (D) Gukesh, Arjun (Erigaisi) etc," added Anantha. Pranav Anand, who became India's 76th Grand Master in September last year, said the effort of Praggnanandhaa will serve as a motivation for young players like him.

"I have been closely following the matches at the World Cup. Praggnanandhaa has been impressive throughout. Beating top players like (Hikaru) Nakamura and (Fabiano) Caruana is no mean feat," said the 16-year-old Pranav from Abu Dhabi, where he was playing in a Masters event. The Bengaluru player said the emergence of a strong, young crop of chess players will give India an edge in top level competitions in the days to come.

"I am proud to be a part of a line of players like Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Arjun, Nihal (Sarin) etc who have already touched some heady heights. It is beneficial to Indian chess. I am sure Praggnanandhaa's performance is just a beginning and we will see many other Indian players now joining him at the big stages," added Pranav. GN Gopal, the Grand Master from Kerala, said Praggnanandhaa's effort to reach the World Cup final was exceptional.

"It is amazing for a young player to reach the final of an intense event like the chess World Cup. It tells volumes about his mental strength. It also shows that Indian chess is progressing in the right direction and hopefully, we will have many such bright moments," said Gopal, a team bronze medal winner at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.