R Praggnanandha Wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Held in Netherlands

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa defeated the world number one chess champion Ding Liren (China) in ‘Tata Steel Chess Tournament’ held on 16 January 2024. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 took place in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

Praggnanandhaa becomes India's number one player:

• With this victory, 18-year-old Praggnananda has become the second Indian player after Vishwanathan Anand to defeat the defending champion.
• Pragyanand has also become India's number one player in chess, leaving behind Vishwanathan Anand in terms of live ratings.
• With this win recorded on the night of January 16, 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa has reached 2748.3 rating points, which is more than five-time world champion Anand's 2748 points in the FIDE Live Ratings. The world chess governing body releases ratings at the beginning of each month.

Praggnanandaa became the 2nd player to defeat the current champion:

• Praggnanandhaa won in 62 moves playing with the black pieces. He became the second Indian player after Anand to defeat the reigning world champion in classical chess.
• Praggnanandaa had earlier also defeated Liren in the Tata Steel tournament in 2023.

Praggnanandaa finishes third in the Masters group:

• Praggnanandaa now has 2.5 points in the Masters Group and is third in the rank table.
• In the Masters group, Anish Giri of Netherlands is in first place with 3.5 points.
• Anish Giri defeated India's young grandmaster D Gukesh.
• Alireza Firozha has three points and is in second place. Another Indian player, Vidit Gujarati, drew the match with Jordan Van Foreest. Gujarati has two points after four rounds.
• Praggnananda had qualified for the Candidates Tournament to be held in April by finishing second behind Magnus Carlsen in the World Cup last year.

About Netherlands:

• Capital: Amsterdam. "The Hague" is given the status of administrative capital.
• Currency: Euro
• Prime Minister: Geert Wilders