Viswanathan Anand advices R Praggnanandhaa to go out there and enjoy
Viswanathan Anand has heaped praise on the country’s latest Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and advised him not to worry about the expectations and just enjoy the game. Anand has also revealed that Praggnanandhaa came to visit him days after his title victory and he liked him immediately.
The 12-year-old boy from Chennai recently became the second youngest GM of all time and the youngest Indian to earn the title. There was only one man in the history of the game to have done it quicker than him, Sergey Karjakin, back in 2002 when he was 12 years and seven months old. Praggnanandhaa was 12 years and eight months old when he became GM.
Anand, India’s first Grandmaster, was 18 when he earned his third GM norm. The 48-year-old advised the chess prodigy to “just go out there and enjoy himself hereafter rather than thinking about the expectations because it’s a very strong field”.
Addressing a function held in Chennai to felicitate Praggnanandhaa, Anand said as quoted by scroll.in, “There was a bit too much pressure on him when he was so close to breaking the record. It’s very nice that he has accomplished it very quickly
Anand, who interacted with Praggnanandhaa days after the 12-year-old won the
“I am very happy that he visited me a couple of days back right after he won the title,” Anand said. “There are some people who you start liking immediately and Pragg is one. It may be because he is young.”
“Across the world, there is a lot of enthusiasm for him. The chess community, be it in any part of the world, was following his quest to see if he would break the record.”
The current world rapid chess champion also said Praggnanandhaa benefitted a lot from the support he got from various quarters, including his family, school, and coach.
“The entire environment has to be conducive. It’s always nice to receive support but it is wonderful when you receive it at the right
“My advice to him would be to see it as a journey for at least a decade,” Anand said. “It really doesn’t matter as to what happens at every step now. I feel he must be very relaxed now. Once you hit a goal, you don’t know what to do with yourself.”
Praggnanandhaa played simultaneous games of chess blindfolded at the event. He would next take part in a tournament in Leon, Spain, from July 5.
