Praggnanandhaa's Grandmaster Coach Shares The Prodigy's Chess Dream, Says 'Very Sure He Will Achieve It'

From Viswanathan Anand To Praggnanandhaa, Tamil Nadu has produced many chess greats. In an interview to ABP Live, coach Ramesh RB says how Chennai has become the chess capital of India.

Chennai: India’s chess prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has entered the Chessable Masters Chess Tournament finals with an impressive win over Dutch player Anish Giri. Praggnanandhaa will next face World No. 2 Chinese player Ding Liren, who defeated World Champion Magnus Carlsen to enter the finals. The Chennai chess wonder has defeated the world champion twice in a span of two months, making a big statement in the world of chess. 

While the entire country is proud of Praggnanandhaa, and his home state Tamil Nadu is ecstatic, there is one person who appears to be the happiest among all. Speaking to ABP Live, an overwhelming Ramesh RB, the Chennai prodigy’s Grandmaster coach, said Praggnanandhaa’s dream is to become the world chess champion one day and he was sure he will achieve it.

Ramesh said Chennai has a big role in producing chess exponents, and spoke in detail about the sport. 

Why Chennai Has Become The Chess Capital Of India

Tamil Nadu has been the bastion of Indian chess for the last at least 15 years, having produced a string of grandmasters and international masters. Of the 70-odd chess grandmasters India has, more than 25 are from Tamil Nadu.

Asked how Chennai became the chess capital of India, coach Ramesh said: “India’s first International Master Manuel Aaron and First Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand have been the biggest inspiration for chess in Tamil Nadu.” 

He said the Tamil Nadu Chess Association and the Chennai District Chess Association had also been very active. 

“They were conducting a lot of chess tournaments throughout Tamil Nadu — Chennai, Salem, Thoothukudi and so on. These tournaments saw chess players from all over India participating,” said Ramesh.

From the year 2000, Tamil Nadu started to see chess academies coming up in good numbers, which helped many school students to take up the sport at a very young age, and that was also an important reason why the state started to churn out so many, said the coach. 

‘Praggnanandhaa Is Hardworking And Dedicated’

Coach Ramesh has high hopes from young talent Praggnanandhaa who has become the poster boy of Indian chess. “Praggnanandhaa came to me in 2013. He was a young kid at that time. He learnt the game very fast and improved very quickly. He used to train 6-8 hours every day. Praggnanandhaa’s ultimate aim is to become the world champion one day. I am very sure he will achieve his dream. He is such a hardworking and dedicated player.”

Coach Ramesh And His ‘Chess Gurukul’

Ramesh became a Grandmaster in 2003, but he took up coaching even before that. His first coaching assignment came in 1998. As a 22 year old, he coached the Indian u-20 team that won the tournament in Iran. 

After becoming GM, he decided to take up coaching full time. Speaking about the reason why he took the decision, Ramesh said: “I had encountered a lot of difficulties when I was a player. So I thought that I could help many players overcome those. I thought rather than being a player I would become a coach so I can create many players.” 

In 2008, Ramesh RB started his Chess Gurukul Academy in Chennai that has since produced many grandmasters and international masters. 

Arvind Chidambaram, Karthikeyan, Arjun kalyani, Vaishali,Savita, Praggnanadhaa have been some of the top players who learnt tricks of the game at his academy. Ramesh has also worked with around 30 GMs from India during various phases of their chess career.

What Indian Chess Players Are Lacking

India has been producing many chess players, but they still face a lot of difficulties, according to Ramesh. “When I was a player, I faced difficulty because of the lack of coaches who could Identify my mistakes. But now there are lots of coaches. The bigger problem now is that when one develops into a world class player there are no international tournaments in India that could test them,” he said.

To improve their game, these players need to go to Europe or other countries to play international standard tournaments, and many players can’t afford that, Ramesh said, adding that this has been the biggest hindrance to their progress. 

“There has to be at least 7-8 international standard tournaments in India every year. The Chess Olympiad that is going to happen in Chennai will be a very useful one. Many tournaments like that need to be conducted in India,” he concluded.