Historic! R Praggnanandhaa clinches UzChess Cup Masters title, becomes India no.1
R Praggnanandhaa (PTI Photo)
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has officially taken the crown as India's No. 1 chess player after clinching the UzChess Cup Masters title in stunning fashion on Friday.
The 19-year-old Grandmaster defeated Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov with the Black pieces in the final round to seal the championship and mark a significant moment in Indian chess history.
With this win, Praggnanandhaa's live rating jumped to 2778.3, elevating him to World No. 4, his highest-ever ranking.
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This result cements his place among the world's elite and signals a generational shift in Indian chess, as he surpasses the world chess champion D Gukesh in the live classical ratings.
This isn't Pragg's first time making waves on the global stage. 2025 has proved to be a productive year for the teenager.
Earlier, he stunned the chess world by defeating reigning world champion Gukesh at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.
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Thursday's triumph, however, is more definitive and historic. Praggnanandhaa not only won a prestigious international tournament but also confirmed his arrival as the new leader of Indian chess.
It's a symbolic passing of the torch, as he overtakes his peers in a discipline where experience often trumps youth.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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Pragg's rise has been marked by maturity beyond his years, a deep understanding of the game, and nerves of steel in pressure moments.
As India's top-ranked player and one of the youngest ever to reach the top 5 globally, he's not just carrying forward Anand's legacy; he's building one of his own.
Indian chess now enters a new era, and Praggnanandhaa is at its helm.
Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
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There will be a new India No. 1 in town when the official chess ratings list comes out in a few days after R Praggnanandhaa snatched victory at the uber-competitive 2nd UzChess Cup in Tashkent. The win came after some drama where the Indian found himself in a Mexican standoff with two Uzbek players from the country's golden generation. Pragg won the title against an elite 10-player Masters field in Tashkent that comprised heavy-hitters like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Arjun Erigaisi, Richard Rapport, Parham Maghsoodloo, and Aravindh Chithambaram besides the Uzbek quartet of Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Shamsiddin Vokhidov. After nine rounds of classical chess, there were three players locked at the top with 5.5 points each: Pragg, Abdusattorov and Sindarov. Pragg had started the event brightly, but had a mid-event stumble with back-to-back defeats against Maghsoodloo and Rapport (which is a candidate for one of the games of the year). 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The UzChess Cup also helped Pragg leap ahead of his compatriots like Arjun, Gukesh and Aravindh in one of the most heavily-contested battles in the sport at the moment: the race to be India's top-ranked player, a position which comes with other perks, like invitations to elite tournaments like Norway Chess. By beating Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa now has a live rating of 2778.3, which also propels him to World No. 4. He leaves behind Gukesh (live rating of 2776.6) and Arjun (2775.7). The UzChess Cup marks Praggnanandhaa's third title of the year. He won the extremely-competitive Tata Steel event in Wijk aan Zee (where he overpowered newly-crowned world champion Gukesh in a tense tiebreak) and the Grand Chess Tour's Superbet Chess Classic Romania (where he won a playoff against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja). The year has also seen Pragg finish 2nd at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial tournament behind Aravindh. 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We discussed this and talked about being more adventurous, which you can see now,' Ramesh told The Indian Express. 'His chess was always quite good. Now he's also been adding new openings and trying a lot more variety of openings in games.' What has also worked for him is his second, Vaibhav Suri, who also aided the Indian team at the Chess Olympiad, emerging from behind the curtain and travelling full-time with Pragg to tournaments, starting from the event in Wijk aan Zee earlier this year. 'Vaibhav has been helping us longer than this year. But we did not want to go public earlier (and reveal his association with Pragg). He has been with us for some time, but only recently he has started accompanying Pragg for tournaments and that has been very helpful,' Ramesh said. 'It's good to have someone you know well, who believes in you, travel with you during important tournaments. When you are going through difficult times, it will be easier to believe in ourselves.' Congratulations @rpraggnachess for winning the UZchess cup 2025 after a tremendous comeback towards the end showing strong character. Amazing job by @vaibhavschess instrumental in Pragg winning many titles this year! And the other unknown gentleman who has been contributing from… — Ramesh RB (@Rameshchess) June 27, 2025 On X, while congratulating Pragg, Ramesh also indicated there was another second operating from the shadows in Pragg's team. 'Amazing job by Vaibhav, (who has been) instrumental in Pragg winning many titles this year! And the other unknown gentleman who has been contributing from behind the scenes,' Ramesh wrote on X. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
