Beating World Chess No.1 Magnus Carlsen Wasn't Huge Surprise, Says Indian Prodigy

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa is a teenage chess grandmaster from India, who has earned rave reviews for his performances this year and has already been compared with legends like Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand.

He is currently enjoying his success after beating the legendary Magnus Carlsen for the third time in a row last month. The young genius claims that his recent success came through sheer hard work and perseverance.

In an interview with Sputnik, Praggnanandhaa speaks about his victories over Carlsen, his comparisons with India's cricket great Sachin Tendulkar, the impact of former no.1 Viswanathan Anand on his career, and his goals for the future.

Sputnik: You are just 17 and you have already beaten one of the greatest players of all-time, Magnus Carlsen, not just once but thrice this year. Did you expect this?

Praggnanandhaa: It is a surprise in a way but I have been working hard and I expected the victory against Carlsen to come. The only surprising part about my win over Carlsen was that it came so soon. However, as far as I am concerned it wasn't a huge surprise.

If I have to elaborate further, I felt extremely satisfied when I beat him for the first time, while it made me a lot happier when I defeated him at the FTX Crypto Cup in August because it was my third consecutive triumph over him.

Praggnanandhaa: He definitely had a huge impact on my chess. When I started, he was the world champion, he certainly influenced me. Even nowadays, I am in constant touch with Anand Sir and I am also a part of his academy which is called the WestBridge-Anand Chess Academy (WACA). I recently had dinner with him.

In general, I learn a lot by discussing chess with him - his experience, tactics, strategy against different opponents, etc. The one specific tip that he gave me is "don't read any social media websites" which is quite important I would say.

Praggnanandhaa: All three are great players but if I have to pick one, I will say Carlsen because he is the reigning world champion and it feels as if nobody can match him in chess right now. He's simply the strongest player in the world.

Although I have beaten him thrice, I have a lot to improve and learn from him. People generally forget that Carlsen has beaten me five to six times, so I have a lot of catching up to do.

I would love to spend a day with him to learn how he goes about his business, probably I would like to play some unofficial games with him and also train with him, just to see what he does in a day, how he prepares - that's what I would like to see.

Praggnanandhaa: Sachin Tendulkar had achieved so much in cricket. I don't think I have achieved even 10 percent of what he has done. It's one thing being compared and it's another thing to match those accolades. I generally don't pay attention to such comparisons.

I am a huge fan of Sachin and I feel weird when someone is comparing me with him. But still, it's a great honor to be compared with him and I hope I can do what he has done. I don't know how to say this but he's still regarded as the 'God of Cricket' and hopefully I could emulate him in chess.

Praggnanandhaa: I would love to see myself in the top 10 of the FIDE rankings within a year and I am really putting in the effort needed to achieve this in the next twelve months or so.

I still have to go a long way to achieve my ultimate goal of becoming the no.1 player in the world. But I feel like I can be on top of the rankings in the next five years if I continue working hard - it needs effort, it needs dedication and I am trying to put all those pieces together to reach the pinnacle of the sport which is the No.1 ranking.