R Praggnanandhaa Beats World Champion Ding Liren, Surpasses Viswanathan Anand To Become No. 1 Indian

New Delhi: Chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa became the No. 1 ranked Indian Grandmaster for the first time in his career. He scripted history on Tuesday as he defeated world champion Ding Liren at the ongoing TATA Steel Chess Tournament and moved past veteran chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.

The victory over the world champion from China took Praggnanandhaa by surprise as he was not expecting the former to go down so easily.

“I felt I equalized very easily and then somehow things started to go wrong for him. Even after I won the pawn I felt it should be holdable,” Praggnanandhaa was quoted as saying by Chess.com.

“I think any day, if you beat such a strong player, it’s always special because it’s not very easy to beat them. The first time winning against a world champion in classical chess feels good,” he added.

Praggnanandhaa seemed content with the kind of start he has got in the tournament but is wary of the challenges that lie ahead of him.

“It’s good. I think the first three games were quite interesting. I think I am playing well but it was the same case last year. There was a point when I was playing really well and then my play dropped quite badly so I think it’s really important to keep the energy high till the end of the tournament.”