Nirmala Sitharaman Salutes Young Chess Ace Praggnanandhaa in Budget Address

The revival of chess in India and the rise of India in the chess world have been led by none other than 18-year-old Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who was honored by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Thursday. Sitaram was the first to praise Indian athletics and its development in the last year by mentioning the country's achievements in the Asian Games and Asian Para Games held last year.

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Nirmala Sitharaman Salutes Young Chess Ace Praggnanandhaa in Budget Address

The revival of chess in India and the rise of India in the chess world have been led by none other than 18-year-old Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who was honored by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech on Thursday. Sitaram was the first to praise Indian athletics and its development in the last year by mentioning the country's achievements in the Asian Games and Asian Para Games held last year.
Nirmala Sitharaman Salutes Young Chess Ace Praggnanandhaa in Budget Address

Sitharaman said, "The country has got the highest number of medals so far in the Asian Games and Asian Para Games in 2023."

He then praised the chess prodigy for his tough battle against the venerable Magnus Carlsen and highlighted the rapid growth of the Indian chess community in the last decade.

"Chess prodigy and our No. 1 ranked player Praggnanandha put up a tough fight against world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2023. Today India has more than 80 chess grandmasters compared to less than 20 in 2010".

2023 was a monumental year for Indian chess and the leader was Praggnanandhaa, who became the youngest World Cup finalist last year, and whose efforts were praised by Sitharaman for her achievements in the game. Never in the past, India had a significant representation in a Chess Candidates tournament. But, this time it did not happen.

“India has a healthy representation among the 2024 candidates in both the divisions. Particularly strong representation from the youth. I see this as a good start which will hopefully result in India fighting for the world title in the near future. Best wishes to all the players for a wonderful competitive event,” said renowned coach and GM RB Ramesh.
Nirmala Sitharaman Salutes Young Chess Ace Praggnanandhaa in Budget Address

Interestingly, this will also be the first time that brother-sister – Praggnanandha and Vaishali – will be participating in the candidates tournament from India. Praggnanandhaa, who has been leading the Indian contingent's exploits in chess, has hardly slowed down after his stellar performance in 2023. Recently, the young GMA defeated Chinese reigning champion and four-time women's world champion Wenjun Jun in the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters. With this victory, Praggnanandha became the only player in recent times to have defeated the reigning world champion in the open and women's categories.

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