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    India's grandmasters · the road to the title

    R Praggnanandhaa: Youngest IM in History to Grandmaster at 12

    R Praggnanandhaa learned chess as a toddler by watching his elder sister, Vaishali, whose classes were meant to cut down her cartoon watching. Neither parent played. He trained first with S Thyagarajan and, from about eight, with GM RB Ramesh. In 2016, aged 10, he became the youngest International Master in history.

    The grandmaster title took longer than expected, then came quickly: norms at the 2017 World Junior, Heraklion in April 2018 and Ortisei in June 2018, at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Since then he has reached the World Cup final, won Olympiad gold with India and won Tata Steel and Norway Chess.

    R Praggnanandhaa in 2025
    R Praggnanandhaa, 2025. Photo: Frans Peeters, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
    Born
    10 Aug 2005, Chennai[1]
    Learned chess
    As a toddler, from watching his sister[2]
    First coach
    S Thyagarajan[3]
    Grandmaster
    June 2018, at 12 years 10 months[4]
    Best world ranking
    No. 4 (July 2025)[5]
    Coaches named in sources
    8[6]

    Tournament by tournament: the road to grandmaster

    1. 2011 · age 6

      National Under-8 championship[7]

      2nd place

      Convinced his father to keep funding his chess and led to the move to coach RB Ramesh.

    2. Dec 2013 · age 8

      World Youth Chess Championship, Open Under-8[8]

      Gold, 11/11, title won with a round to spare

      First world youth title; Wikipedia says it earned him the FIDE Master title (FIDE profile lists FM 2013).

    3. Nov 2015 · age 10

      World Youth Chess Championship, Under-10 boys[9]

      Gold

      Second world youth title, won at the same event where his sister won Under-14 girls gold.

    4. Feb 2016 · age 10

      30th Festival International des Jeux de Cannes, A group[10]

      First IM norm

      First IM norm, in his first grandmaster open outside India.

    5. Mar 2016 · age 10

      Aeroflot Open B, Moscow[11]

      Second IM norm, after a 0.5/3 start

      Second IM norm, needing a last-round win.

    6. Apr 2016 · age 10

      Asian Youth Championship, Under-12[11]

      Gold

      Continental age-group title.

    7. May 2016 · age 10

      KIIT International Open, Bhubaneswar[11]

      Third IM norm and 2400+ rating: IM title

      Youngest International Master in history at that time (FIDE profile: IM title approved at the 87th FIDE Congress, Baku, September 2016).

    8. Oct 2016 · age 11

      World Youth Chess Championship, Under-12[12]

      Bronze

      A setback as top seed while chasing Karjakin's youngest-GM record.

    9. Nov 2017 · age 12

      World Junior U20 Championship, Tarvisio, Italy[13]

      First GM norm (FIDE application: 8/11, opponents' average 2513); Wikipedia: finished fourth with 8 points

      First GM norm, about a year and a half after the IM title. Matches FIDE record: 'World Junior U20 CC 2017', Rc 2513.

    10. Apr 2018 · age 12

      4th Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament, Heraklion, Greece (round robin)[14]

      1st place; second GM norm; crossed 2500

      Second GM norm. Matches FIDE record: '4th Fischer Memorial GM Norm 2018', Rc 2384.

    11. Jun 2018 · age 12

      4th Gredine Open (OP 4 ad Gredine), Ortisei, Italy[4]

      Third and final GM norm (FIDE application: 7.5/9, opponents' average 2437)

      Completed the GM requirements at 12 years, 10 months, 13 days. Matches FIDE record: 'OP 4 ad Gredine', Rc 2437.

    Coaches and trainers

    8 people are named in published sources as a coach, trainer, second or mentor, in order. Players rarely list everyone who helped them, so this is what's on the record, not a complete count.

    1. S Thyagarajan (Bloom Chess Academy, Chennai)[3]first coach · from about age 4.5 (c. 2010) until he moved to RB Ramesh
    2. GM RB Ramesh (Chess Gurukul)[6]main coach / trainer · c. 2013 to at least 2025
    3. Viswanathan Anand (WestBridge Anand Chess Academy)[15]mentor · after the GM title; mentioned 2022
    4. Prasenjit Dutta[12]team coach, India A at the World Youth Olympiad 2017 · 2017
    5. Vladimir Kramnik[12]training-camp trainer · 2019 and 2020 camps
    6. Boris Gelfand[12]training-camp trainer · 2020 camp
    7. Peter Svidler[16]second / assistant · 2024 Candidates (reported as likely before the event)
    8. Vaibhav Suri[17]second · 2025

    Records, as they stood

    • World's youngest International Master (as of 2016-05-29)[11]
    • Broke Judit Polgar's youngest-IM record (as of 2016-06)[6]
    • Second-youngest grandmaster in the world at that time (as of 2018-06-23)[18]
    • India's youngest grandmaster at that time (as of 2018-06)[7]
    • Youngest Indian ever to cross 2600 Elo; second youngest in the world (as of 2019-12-04)[19]
    • Youngest player to reach a FIDE World Cup final (as of 2023-08)[12]
    • With sister Vaishali, the first brother-sister grandmaster pair and first brother-sister pair to qualify for the Candidates (as of 2023-12-02)[20]

    Since the title: career highlights

    • Aug 2023Runner-up, FIDE World Cup 2023 (lost the final to Magnus Carlsen in tiebreaks); qualified for the 2024 Candidates[21]
    • Sep 2024Olympiad gold with India, 45th Chess Olympiad, Budapest[22]
    • Feb 2025Won Tata Steel Masters 2025 (beat Gukesh in the blitz playoff after both scored 8.5/13)[23]
    • Jul 2025World No. 4 for the first time, July 2025 FIDE list; India No. 1[5]
    • Apr 2026Won the 2025 FIDE Circuit; played the 2026 Candidates in Cyprus, finished 7th[1]
    • Jun 2026Won Norway Chess 2026[24]
    • Aug 2026Won the 2026 Grand Chess Tour (Finals, St. Louis)[25]
    • Oct 2026World No. 7 on the October 2026 FIDE list. Wikipedia infobox: rating 2763 (October 2026), peak 2785 (September 2025), peak rank No. 4 (July 2025)[26]

    Checked on 2026-10-22. Ratings and rankings change every month.

    Where sources disagree

    We show both versions instead of picking one quietly.

    • Age when they learned chess
      • 2 (picked it up watching Vaishali practise)[6]
      • 3[2]
      • 3.5 (began showing interest)[7]
      • 5[27]
    • Age at IM title
      • 10 years 9 months[11]
      • 10 years 10 months[12]
      • 10 years 10 months 19 days[1]
    • When RB Ramesh started
      • about three years before May 2016 (c. 2013)[11]
      • about two years before June 2016 (c. 2014), first met when he was barely eight[6]
    • 2nd GM norm score at Heraklion 2018
      • 7.5/9[14]
      • 7 points scored (7 required), 9 games[28]
    • World Junior 2017 dates
      • 13–25 Nov 2017 (AICF application)[28]
      • 12–26 Nov 2017 (FIDE title record; used)[29]
    • Peter Svidler's role and timing
      • 'likely' assistance at the 2024 Candidates (preview, before the event)[16]
      • Wikipedia puts the sentence in its World Cup 2023 paragraph, though its cited source is titled about the 2024 Candidates[1]

    Every grandmaster started with a first tournament

    How long the road usually takes, from first moves to the title, is in our study of how long it takes to become a grandmaster. For a child starting out, here's how to get a FIDE rating in India.

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    Quick answers

    When did Praggnanandhaa become a grandmaster?

    He completed the title on 23 June 2018 at Ortisei, Italy, aged 12 years, 10 months and 13 days; FIDE approved it in July 2018. He was then the world's second-youngest grandmaster.

    Who is Praggnanandhaa's coach?

    His first coach was S Thyagarajan of Bloom Chess Academy in Chennai. GM RB Ramesh has been his main coach since he was about eight, and Viswanathan Anand has mentored him.

    Was Praggnanandhaa the youngest International Master ever?

    Yes. In 2016, aged 10, he became the youngest International Master in history, breaking Judit Polgar's record.

    More of India's greats

    Sources

    Every fact above links to the page it came from. We read each page and copied the sentence that says it; the quote is shown here. Checked on 2026-10-22.

    1. [1]en.wikipedia.org"Praggnanandhaa was born to a Tamil-speaking family in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on 10 August 2005."
    2. [2]thebridge.in"All of 3 when he took to the sport after his elder sister Vaishali was introduced to it to wean her away from watching too many cartoon shows on TV"
    3. [3]dtnext.in"Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa first coach S Thyagarajan, who runs Bloom Chess Academy in the city, is overjoyed at the player’s phenomenal rise. “Praggnanandhaa came to me when he was four-and-a-half years old and his sister Vaishali was seven."
    4. [4]chessbase.in"Pragg, thus became the second youngest GM in the history of the game at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 13 days."
    5. [5]indianexpress.com"Praggnanandhaa R gained 12 rating points, thanks to his performance at the UzChess Cup tournament in Tashkent, which helped him climb to the world no 4 spot for the first time in his career in the latest FIDE ratings list"
    6. [6]indianexpress.com"His coach for the past two years, GM RB Ramesh recalls being caught off guard when the two first met when Praggnanandhaa was barely eight."
    7. [7]thenewsminute.com""He was just six years old when he came second in the Under-8 national championship. That is when I knew that I can't hold him back because of our financial situation. I put him in RB Ramesh sir's coaching class soon after that," he adds."
    8. [8]aicf.in"The youngster who dominated the contest with a 11/11 sweep was R Praggnanandhaa of Chennai who won the Open Under-8 section with a round to spare."
    9. [9]chessbase.in"R. Vaishali gold medal in Under-14 girls and R. Praggnanandhaa gold in Under-10 boys"
    10. [10]chessbase.in"Praggnanandhaa played excellent chess in the tournament, made his maiden IM norm despite losing the last round and did not even know about it till some of us asked Vaishali, who later discovered that yes, her younger sibling had made it!"
    11. [11]en.chessbase.com"Praggnanandhaa needed a win in the final round to clinch his second IM norm. And he did just that after his opponent erroneously picked up the c5 pawn with his knight."
    12. [12]chessbase.in"Pragg won a bronze medal at the World Youth under-12 in 2016 held in Georgia. Starting as the top seed, this was maybe not the best result for Pragg"
    13. [13]aicf.in"World’s youngest International Master Praggnandhaa R. made the nation proud by scoring his maiden GM norm. He drew against GM Alekseenko Kirill in the seventh round."
    14. [14]timesofindia.indiatimes.com"Almost five months after he bagged his maiden Grandmaster norm, R Praggnanandhaa - on Tuesday - pocketed his second as he reigned supreme at the Herkalion Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament in Greece."
    15. [15]globalindian.com"Always a call or text away is the iconic Viswanathan Anand, India’s first chess grandmaster and a five-time world chess champion. The prodigy is also associated with Anand’s Westbridge Anand Chess Academy."
    16. [16]outlookindia.com"Fearless and psychologically sound, Praggnandhaa will likely have the assistance of eight-time Russian champion Peter Svidler for the event."
    17. [17]nationalheraldindia.com"His longtime coach R.B. Ramesh felt that the 19-year-old had been more ‘adventurous’ this year while having Vaibhav Suri as his second has also helped his game."
    18. [18]timesofindia.indiatimes.com"Chennai lad R Praggnanandhaa created history on Saturday as he became the second youngest GM in the world at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days. Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine had become the youngest GM at 12 years, seven months back in 1990."
    19. [19]chessbase.in"Pragg has achieved the feat of crossing 2600 at the age of 14 years, 3 months and 24 days, making him the youngest 2600 ever in Indian chess history and the second youngest in the world."
    20. [20]indianexpress.com"With this achievement, Vaishali and her younger brother, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, have become the first-ever Grandmaster siblings pair in history. They also become the first-ever brother-sister duo to make the Candidates."
    21. [21]scroll.in"Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, on Thursday, finished as the runner-up at the 2023 Chess World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan after losing the tiebreaks"
    22. [22]chess.com"GMs Gukesh Dommaraju , Arjun Erigaisi , and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu all won as the Indian men wrapped up victory in the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad"
    23. [23]europechess.org"Having White pieces in the sudden death game, Praggnanandhaa took a win and clinched the title."
    24. [24]fide.com"Norway Chess 2026 concluded in Oslo on Friday with a dramatic final round, as Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu scored a decisive classical victory to claim the title."
    25. [25]chessbase.in"Pragg defeated Fabiano Caruana in the final 15-13 to win the GCT."
    26. [26]chessbase.in"R. Praggnanandhaa climbed a spot, and he is now World No.7."
    27. [27]theguardian.com"Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa learned chess at five and soon made remarkable progress. He won the world under-eight title in 2013, the under-10 in 2015"
    28. [28]ratings.fide.com"GM Norm Tournament 4th Fisher Memorial 2018 location: Greece dates: ( DD / MM / YY ) 09.04.2018 – 17.04.2018 tournament system: Swiss average rating of opponents: 2384 total number of games played: 9 points required: 7 points scored: 7"
    29. [29]ratings.fide.com"2017-11-12 2017-11-26 Tarvisio ITA World Junior U20 CC 2017 SS 2513"