Pranav Anand aiming for further glory

Karnataka government announced Rs 10 lakh cash reward for the recently crowned U-16 world champ

It has been a busy year for young chess player Pranav Anand. After becoming the youngest International Master (IM) from Karnataka in August 2021, the 15-year-old since then has achieved ELO Rating points in steadfast speed to achieve two more feats.

Bengaluru’s Pranav crossed 2500 chess ELO Rating mark to become India’s 76th Grandmaster (GM) and followed it up by winning the World Youth Under-16 Chess Championship that was held in Mamaia, Romania last week.

Back in the city, the newly crowned U-16 world champ was felicitated by the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports on Monday.

“The State government has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh to Pranav who became the first and the youngest chess player from Karnataka to bag the title and become a GM. We hope he continues to grow and bring more laurels to the State and the country,” said KC Narayana Gowda, Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports.

With his latest win, Pranav joined the growing list of young chess players from the country such as Praggnanandhaa R, Nihal Sarin among others who have won the U-18 or U-16 titles in the previous editions of the event.

The teenager who played 14 tournaments in a span of a year to go from IM to GM has his eyes firmly set on the next target of achieving 2600 rating that will help him break into the list of top 20 players in India.

"The win has only pushed me to take my game to the next level because the competition is only going to get tougher here on," said Pranav, whose love for the checkered board began aged seven.

First in line for the youngster in his pursuit of climbing the ranking ladder will be the Asian Continental tournament, which is a Chess World Cup qualifier event, scheduled to be held in Delhi during the end of October.

“We haven't planned anything after that because I will have my pre-boards and board exams in February. I also need to study," smiled Pranav.

Entry into bigger tournaments means a considerable hike in the expenses - so far funded by father Anand, a software engineer and mother Aparna, a guest mathematics faculty for BITS Pilani distance learning.

“We have mostly come so far on our own along with some support from the (24)7.ai foundation since 2017. The cash reward from the government will surely help,” said Anand who hopes the win will bring a few sponsors to aid his son's dreams.