'Totally pointless': Dutch no. 1 Anish Giri reacts after R Praggnanandhaa becomes world no. 1 junior chess player
R Praggnanandhaa and Anish Giri (Agency Photos)
D
utch No.1 Grandmaster Anish Giri sparked conversation across the chess world on Friday with a tongue-in-cheek reaction to R Praggnanandhaa becoming the new World No.1 junior.
'Chess juniors nowadays have to be at least U16, keeping track of U20 players is totally pointless,' Giri wrote, hinting at how elite young talents are now already competing at the top of the senior world rankings.
— anishgiri (@anishgiri)
The remark came shortly after 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa's remarkable victory at the UzChess Cup Masters 2025 in Uzbekistan, which propelled him to a live rating of 2778.3 — making him the World No.4 overall and officially India's highest-rated chess player.
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He leapfrogged both World Champion D Gukesh (2776.6) and Arjun Erigaisi (2775.7), reshuffling the Indian chess hierarchy.
Praggnanandhaa's road to victory was nothing short of dramatic. Starting the final day behind both Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, he scored a crucial win over Abdusattorov in the last classical round to force a three-way tie.
In the blitz tiebreaks, Praggnanandhaa showed nerves of steel, eventually winning the tournament in the second set of rapid games — his third major classical title of the year.
Five-time world champion
Viswanathan Anand
applauded the youngster, stating, 'This win seemed the least likely with just two rounds to go… An impressive demonstration of character.'
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With this triumph, Praggnanandhaa adds the UzChess Cup to his 2025 title haul, which already includes victories at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament and the Superbet Classic in Romania. He also recently finished runner-up at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial.
While Giri's comment playfully downplays the relevance of junior rankings, Praggnanandhaa's performance makes one thing clear — the future of world chess is already here, and it's thriving in India.
Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
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