15-Year-Ol d From Tamil Nadu Is A New Member Of India's GM Club
Update: 2022-08-08 12:30 IST
Pranav Venkatesh
Pranav Venkatesh entered the exclusive group of grandmasters (GM) subtly. After winning the Limpedia Open in Romania on Sunday, the 15-year-old boy from Velammal School became India's 75th GM.
In 2021 at the Serbia Open, Pranav, the 27th GM from Tamil Nadu, earned his first GM norm. In June of this year, at the Vezerkepzo GM round-robin tournament in Budapest, he earned his second.
On Sunday, the 15-year-old secured his third and last norm after earning seven points from rounds. Pranav stated that while he was thrilled to have won the competition and achieved grandmaster status.
He remarked that this is just the start of his journey. While recalling his journey, he stated that Pranav began playing the sport in 2013–14, and with his dependable performances, he advanced. Pranav won the state championships in 2019 and repeated the feat in 2018. During the pandemic, tournaments were few and far between, so it was crucial for him to seize most of the possible opportunity.
Pranav played for the Velammal Nexus team in 2021, which won the Dubai World School Team Chess Championship. Pranav believes that competing in events with people like Gukesh and R Praggu among others has strengthened him. He said that their play is of the highest calibre, and working with them on their school games has been fantastic.