R Praggnanandhaa explains southern India's domination of chess: 'We have this starting advantage...'

The southern part of India, especially the state of Tamil Nadu and the city of Chennai, remains something of a nursery for Indian chess as it continues to produce world-class talent generation after generation.

From the legendary Viswanathan Anand, India’s first Grandmaster and a five-time world champion, and Koneru Humpy, who took women’s chess in India to another level, to the emergence of young stars such as reigning world champion D Gukesh as well as R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi, the south has quite the rich legacy when it comes to chess.

According to Praggnanandhaa, Anand’s influence and the presence of a strong chess culture are the two key reasons behind the south’s domination of chess in India.

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“One of the reasons is because of Anand sir. I came from Chennai and there is already an existing system where there are tournaments happening regularly, where there are a lot of trainers. And that’s why we have this starting advantage so to say, that we get the opportunities there,” the 20-year-old Grandmaster said on the Figuring Out With Raj Shamani podcast.

Praggnanandhaa says chess growing everywhere in India these days

‘Pragg’, who currently is the highest-rated Indian in the Classical format at No 4 , added that while the South remains a bastion for Indian chess, the sport is “growing everywhere in India”, with young talent emerging from all parts of the nation including from the North.

“But right now I think it’s growing everywhere in India. There are kids coming from all over India, and that’s one of the reasons why India is growing because there’s just so much competition within us, and then when you go and play abroad, you are just so much stronger,” added Praggnanandhaa, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Sunday.

Gukesh had recently become only the second Indian after Anand to be crowned Classical world champion , also becoming the youngest to achieve the feat. Arjun too had emulated one of Anand’s many incredible feats in chess, that of breaching the 2800-rating barrier .

Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, had pulled off the biggest victory of his career earlier this year when he defeated Gukesh in the tie-breaks to win the Tata Steel Chess tournament. As for Humpy, she had recently become only the second player in chess history to be crowned women’s rapid world champion more than once.

And it’s not just individual feats; Chennai also happens to host the strongest Classical tournament, the Chennai Grand Masters , which currently is underway. And Velammal MHS School, Gukesh and Pragg’s alma mater, had recently won gold at the FIDE World Schools Team Championship.