Praggnanandhaa, commonly referred to as Pragg, is an incredible chess teacher from India. After his match against Magnus Carlsen, the world's number one chess player with the highest FIDE ranking ever achieved, Pragg expressed his joy at improving his game from the first day of the tournament and avoiding a draw in the 39-move match. Wilhelm Steinitz was the first world chess champion at 58 years old, but today it is impossible to become a world champion at such an age. Vishy Anand, India's first grandmaster, was 18 when he achieved this title.
Three years later, Carlsen defeated Vishy in a twelve-game match. Due to the advancement of modern theory and technology, it is difficult to accurately compare chess skill between generations. However, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, at just 16 years old, has become the youngest player to defeat Magnus Carlsen during his long reign as world champion. Despite Carlsen's impressive record of fewer losses than any other in history, few give him credit due to his lack of American or Russian heritage.
The Russian government has heavily promoted chess and provided ways for players to excel through schools, clubs and universities. Garry Kasparov began his journey to become one of the best chess players of all time at 10 years old when he attended Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school. Paul Morphy is widely considered one of the best chess players in history and is thought to be the most talented player who ever lived. Emanuel Lasker held the title of World Chess Champion for 27 years from 1894 to 1921 - the longest reign of all time.
Vishy Anand still holds a FIDE rating close to 2800 and is one of the best players in the world today. Research suggests that chess is an ideal subject for studying cognitive performance due to its availability of direct measures that show variations within a person over a wide age spectrum and are comparable between individuals and over time.
Leave Reply