Chess | Red-hot Praggnanandhaa vital to India’s fortunes at the Olympiad
Indian chess grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa is in peak form after winning multiple prestigious titles in rapid and blitz formats. His recent success is seen as a major boost for the Indian team ahead of the upcoming Chess Olympiad.
Why it matters
Praggnanandhaa's performance highlights India's rising dominance in the global chess landscape.
Fortunes in rapid chess change faster than the patterns of this monsoon. They change even faster in blitz chess.
So, the way R. Praggnanandhaa dominated the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz in the United States last week is truly remarkable. He led from the start to the finish. And won the title by a margin of 1.5 points from the second-placed Javokhir Sindarov, a strong rival from the time they were kids.
The Chennai Grandmaster, who turned 21 on Monday, won the blitz event with a round to spare, in fact. And he was in the lead on all five days of the tournament. That is not very usual, especially if your name is not Magnus Carlsen.
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