Happy that Praggnanandhaa's silver at FIDE World Cup coincided with Chandrayaan-3 success: India GM's Father

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Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa settled for a silver medal in the FIDE World Cup 2023 after losing to reigning world number one Magnus Carlsen in tie-breaks on Thursday (August 24) in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The 18-year-old had a phenomenal run in the marquee competition as he defeated some of the giants of the game to make his way into the finals and also forced Carlsen to play two draws, and took the decider into tie-breaks. Read This Article in Tamil

The Chennai lad's mother Nagalakshmi has been travelling with her son to tournaments as a pillar of his strength and support, while his father Rameshbabu has been cheering for his son from home. FIDE World Cup 2023 Final: R Praggnanandhaa loses to Magnus Carlsen in tiebreaker, finishes as runner-up

A proud Rameshbabu - who is also the father of International GM Vaishali Ramesh - is elated with his son's achievement in the tournament - where he became the youngest finalist in the competition's history. R Praggnanandhaa: From being introduced to chess to stay away from television to becoming next big thing

The chess prodigy's father while speaking with MyKhel said that he is elated with the achievement of Indian scientists at ISRO after Chandrayaan-3 landed successfully on the moon and that the achievement of his son coincided in Azerbaijan at the same time.

"My son defeated some of the best players in the world and made it to the finals, he faced a lot of challenges en route to his final. He also gave a tough challenge to Carlsen and now he won a silver medal. It makes me happy just thinking about it. This success is attributed to his hard work and training in chess since childhood."

Pragg's father also credited his son's success to his first coach Sethuraman and his current coach RB Ramesh, the former India Grandmaster. He even thanked his son's school administration for helping him at every stage.

"Even if he misses the main classes, they give special attention to him. At the same time, they provide his chess training. We have been getting adequate help from the government for a long time. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many sponsors who have helped Pragg at every stage of his career," Rameshbabu, who is employed as a branch manager with TNSC Bank.

Praggnananda's journey didn't end in Baku. He's now travelling with his mother to participate in a chess tournament in Germany on Friday (August 25).