Praggnanandhaa, youngest International Master, can claim the coveted chess norm in a few months.
In the crowded verandah of Ramesh Babu’s one-storey apartment in Padi, on the outskirts of Chennai, is a purple-rimmed bicycle, its wheels smeared with fresh mud and earth. It belongs to Babu’s 11-year-old son Praggnanandhaa, one of the several gifts he received when he became the world’s youngest International Master in October.
Glancing at the cycle, Babu summons his son and tells him softly not to dirty the house. “Intha cycle-aale romba thalavali (This cycle is a big headache),” he says.
Praggnanandhaa obediently nods, but then jumps onto the bicycle and is away in a blur, past the half-open gate on to the crammed bylane. With a wistful smile, Babu says: “He’s restless. It’s his age, let him be.”
Perhaps, Babu knows that his son — Pragga, as they call him — can seldom let himself “be”. For, being the youngest IM comes with an imposing baggage: the pursuit of becoming the youngest ever Grandmaster, a norm he can achieve as soon as March next year. “He doesn’t seem to feel any pressure. But sometimes, we feel (the pressure). It’s his age,” says Babu.
Deep inside, though, Pragga has worked out his calculations. He is exactly 11 years, three months and four days old today. To break the record of Russian Sergey Karjakin, who became a Grandmaster at the age of 12 years and seven months, he still has nearly 16 months left. Ask Pragga, and he replies confidently: “I think I can do it before I turn 12.”
Read more of this in a report by Sandip G in Indian Express......
