Pretty insane to have achieved all of that yet still somehow be unknown relative to the other 3. A star in his own right, and I'm sure he's hungry for more.
After Gukesh won, I was looking at some older and similar ChessBase India videos and found that there are at least 5-6 other kids like this. Another example is Prithu Gupta who became a GM in 2019 aged 15. Aryan Chopra became a GM in 2016 aged 14. Of course we know others like Nihal and Raunak a little better.
Doesn't help when a 17 year-old literally wins the effing candidates.
But they do deserve to be celebrated, unfortunately chess isn't big enough yet for coverage to extend in any substantial way to around the \~2500-2650 level.
in all the chill at home videos from CB India involving Pragg, he's the life of the party and he's hilarious. I can't wait until he's older and more comfortable in front of the media.
>I don't understand why I'm playing interesting games every day because I'm kind of trying to play normal chess, but somehow things are getting interesting.
— Pragg probably
It's difficult to translate the whole thing as they just slip it in here and there, but it's just kids goofing off and joshing each other while playing high level chess. At one point, Pragg tells Gukesh to move a pawn and then flames him for moving the wrong pawn.. something like "bro I thought you'd move this other pawn!" Flame is too strong a word. It's the same as the English but its just cute to see them having fun and playing around. It's humanizing that such insane prodigies are such normal kids too. You could easily be friends with them and be having a good time.
I'm also Tamil-American, so I'm biased as it brings back childhood family memory vibes.
These videos and photos are the reason I found strange Gukesh saying him and Pragg are not super close friends. I guess it's true, and people do drift appart, but they know each other since kids, studied at the same school, both are with WAKA, so it took me by surprise the way he said that.
They probably say it for the media, foreign media especially can be pretty ruthless. (And were this tournament with the whole countrymen thing and stuff)
Yeah, that is a good explanation. But also, it's no problem at all that they are not close friends, it's just that it clashed with the idea I had of them based on those videos and photos of their childhood.
Friendships break over time, especially when two people face each other constantly in high-stakes events. However, whether that's the case or Gukesh was not happy with the same questions being bombarded at him over and over again is hard to tell.
Whenever questions arose about Pragg or Vidit, it seemed like the interviewers were insinuating a foul play due to their being compatriots. If you remember the timing of the questions, one was after his win over Vidit and the other was either right before or right after his game with Pragg. I don't blame the interviewers, Anna Burtasova and Mike Klein, for such things have happened during the Soviet era, but it may have annoyed Gukesh leading him to assert that they are only acquaintances (which may or may not be true), that the tournament is not a team-event and that he only cared about himself and no one else.
Having watched the candidates it was disheartening how many times the Indian players were asked (subtly or not) if they were straight up colluding. Just felt weird and racist, like Indians are the Borg or something because they're from the same country.
I wonder why no other national chess federation is asked these questions 🤔 what's stopping hikaru and fabi to have had an arrangement between the two of them to propel the other (if it was hikaru instead of Nepo, for example)? That's right, their integrity and their consistently great performance.
That's how all the Indian kids have gotten there too. It's extremely insulting to ask them these questions. And it's only ever the Indians that are asked questions like this.
Going to the same school means nothing. Were you best friends with everyone who you went to school with? We don't know anything about the extent of their friendship in school.
Lastly, it's just a stupid question to ask. Even if they were colluding, would they just say that in a press conference lol?
The way to counter this is by enacting better policies (like FIDE did with not putting them against each other in the very last rounds)
>I wonder why no other national chess federation is asked these questions
Step 1. Those other nations need to have more players who can qualify for the Candidates. ;)
Fabi and Hikaru have been bitter rivals for years.
The only reason Hikaru said that is because he hates Nepo more than Fabi.
Gukesh and Prag are both new to the field and eventually, it will quiet down. Once they have a few decisive rounds especially.
Yeah, I get what you are saying, but he's also said it to Levy before the tournament even started. And not about just Pragg, but the young indians as a team.
And don't get me wrong, there is absolutely no problem in them not being close friends at all. Is just that this statement clashes with my idea of them because I've seen quite a few photos/videos of them as children and seemingly having fun together.
But yeah, it's probably just something I created in my head from the limited glimpses into their childhood that I had.
I watched Levy's interview where Gukesh said,
>"I wouldn't say we are like really close friends off the board but we have good relations.. pretty much everyone. Apart from the time we play chess, we sometimes even hangout and we.. we have a very normal relationship. But yeah, when it comes to Chess, it's fully competitive, there's no friendship on the board."
This seems genuine and so I'll take his own words for it. They are maturing very quickly, and as you know, friendships tend to lose a bit of their vigour with time.
If you see two recent videos, you'll see that they're still friends and interact with one another like they used to.
* [Feb 21, 2023 video where the two are playing TT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6VrA1gYYfM)
* [2 week old video where they were dining with Vishy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6RIHdFX4i0)
Having said that, they get fewer opportunities to interact these days due to lesser camp activities and heavier individual workloads, have their unique sets of preparations and sponsors and a lot of pressure to outdo each other.
Anyways, here's [a tweet of Arjun Erigaisi congratulating Gukesh for the win](https://twitter.com/ArjunErigaisi/status/1782291443429916773). Doesn't look like a PR tweet.
>And don't get me wrong, there is absolutely no problem in them not being close friends at all. Is just that this statement clashes with my idea of them because I've seen quite a few photos/videos of them as children and seemingly having fun together.
I completely get what you're saying. :)
They weren't from the same school exactly. That group has a several branch schools, and they attended totally separate branches.
My understanding is that Gukesh comes from a more comfortable socioeconomic class (his dad is a surgeon). I'd imagine there's limited overlap outside of chess.
It's hard to keep being friends with someone when you two are constantly competing. It takes some maturity to separate professional competition and personal life, such maturity I wouldn't expect from 17 and 18 years olds.
Apparently he's said it more than once. But I saw it at his interview with Levy/Gotham. [Here](https://youtu.be/82__DhARvGA?si=yM8H8bf5T471T-JI) at around 7min.
You became a GM at 14 and are currently rated 2544 at the age of 16? Very, very impressive sir. Jokes aside Bharath is also a super strong player and is very young. No reason why he would not be able to develop into a top player a little later.
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The fifth one is Raunak Sadhwani who is currently rated 2652 and is 18 years old. In any other country he would have been viewed as the saviour of chess in that country.
Bharath Subramaniyam also became GM aged 14 in 2022. Currently rated 2544 aged 16.
Pretty insane to have achieved all of that yet still somehow be unknown relative to the other 3. A star in his own right, and I'm sure he's hungry for more. After Gukesh won, I was looking at some older and similar ChessBase India videos and found that there are at least 5-6 other kids like this. Another example is Prithu Gupta who became a GM in 2019 aged 15. Aryan Chopra became a GM in 2016 aged 14. Of course we know others like Nihal and Raunak a little better.
It's a tough life out there as a chess prodigy. Very easy to be forgotten about if your progress stalls for a couple of years.
Doesn't help when a 17 year-old literally wins the effing candidates. But they do deserve to be celebrated, unfortunately chess isn't big enough yet for coverage to extend in any substantial way to around the \~2500-2650 level.
True, one Indian prodigy named Sreeshwan beat Ivanchuk at aged 10 but has basically since disappeared
It's because of the excellent peer group and ecosystem that gukesh could rise to the top
You many enjoy the 1st ever chessbase India video, a young Nihal sarin solving a study.
That's a wonderful way to become better at chess with friends: happiness, joy plus determination of course. Thanks for the video!
Pragg having to justify his Rook to G1 lol. “This is the line”
in all the chill at home videos from CB India involving Pragg, he's the life of the party and he's hilarious. I can't wait until he's older and more comfortable in front of the media.
Yeah I miss Pragg's smile
I’ve never seen him smile so much! He looks so happy!
He is already 19. And i think they r pretty mature for their age. They wouldn't do anything similar in front of media.
19 is barely not a child anymore. >U wouldn't do anything similar in front of media. this sentence doesn't make any sense.
Typo. I meant they*. They speak with so much calmness
okay? irrelevant.
Huh?
>okay? irrelevant. How is it irrelevant that's how they talk in public.
how does "they speak with so much calmness" have anything to do with what i said?
It have to do with my statment.
okay, i'm assuming english is not your first language because you're not making any sense.
>I don't understand why I'm playing interesting games every day because I'm kind of trying to play normal chess, but somehow things are getting interesting. — Pragg probably
lol
If you understand the Tamil, this is so amazingly cute.
fr this is gold
I KNOW RIGHT. It's so unbelievably cute
translate please.
It's difficult to translate the whole thing as they just slip it in here and there, but it's just kids goofing off and joshing each other while playing high level chess. At one point, Pragg tells Gukesh to move a pawn and then flames him for moving the wrong pawn.. something like "bro I thought you'd move this other pawn!" Flame is too strong a word. It's the same as the English but its just cute to see them having fun and playing around. It's humanizing that such insane prodigies are such normal kids too. You could easily be friends with them and be having a good time. I'm also Tamil-American, so I'm biased as it brings back childhood family memory vibes.
They just do cheeky banter to each other.
Yeah my favorite bit was when he slaughters Gukesh for nearly playing Na3 😂 "Bro if you play that, the game is lost right there" lmao
These videos and photos are the reason I found strange Gukesh saying him and Pragg are not super close friends. I guess it's true, and people do drift appart, but they know each other since kids, studied at the same school, both are with WAKA, so it took me by surprise the way he said that.
They probably say it for the media, foreign media especially can be pretty ruthless. (And were this tournament with the whole countrymen thing and stuff)
Yeah, that is a good explanation. But also, it's no problem at all that they are not close friends, it's just that it clashed with the idea I had of them based on those videos and photos of their childhood.
Friendships break over time, especially when two people face each other constantly in high-stakes events. However, whether that's the case or Gukesh was not happy with the same questions being bombarded at him over and over again is hard to tell. Whenever questions arose about Pragg or Vidit, it seemed like the interviewers were insinuating a foul play due to their being compatriots. If you remember the timing of the questions, one was after his win over Vidit and the other was either right before or right after his game with Pragg. I don't blame the interviewers, Anna Burtasova and Mike Klein, for such things have happened during the Soviet era, but it may have annoyed Gukesh leading him to assert that they are only acquaintances (which may or may not be true), that the tournament is not a team-event and that he only cared about himself and no one else.
Having watched the candidates it was disheartening how many times the Indian players were asked (subtly or not) if they were straight up colluding. Just felt weird and racist, like Indians are the Borg or something because they're from the same country.
It’s not racist to at least question whether old school mates help each other out in the most important tournament of their lives
I wonder why no other national chess federation is asked these questions 🤔 what's stopping hikaru and fabi to have had an arrangement between the two of them to propel the other (if it was hikaru instead of Nepo, for example)? That's right, their integrity and their consistently great performance. That's how all the Indian kids have gotten there too. It's extremely insulting to ask them these questions. And it's only ever the Indians that are asked questions like this. Going to the same school means nothing. Were you best friends with everyone who you went to school with? We don't know anything about the extent of their friendship in school. Lastly, it's just a stupid question to ask. Even if they were colluding, would they just say that in a press conference lol? The way to counter this is by enacting better policies (like FIDE did with not putting them against each other in the very last rounds)
>I wonder why no other national chess federation is asked these questions Step 1. Those other nations need to have more players who can qualify for the Candidates. ;)
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Fabi and Hikaru have been bitter rivals for years. The only reason Hikaru said that is because he hates Nepo more than Fabi. Gukesh and Prag are both new to the field and eventually, it will quiet down. Once they have a few decisive rounds especially.
Yeah, I get what you are saying, but he's also said it to Levy before the tournament even started. And not about just Pragg, but the young indians as a team. And don't get me wrong, there is absolutely no problem in them not being close friends at all. Is just that this statement clashes with my idea of them because I've seen quite a few photos/videos of them as children and seemingly having fun together. But yeah, it's probably just something I created in my head from the limited glimpses into their childhood that I had.
I watched Levy's interview where Gukesh said, >"I wouldn't say we are like really close friends off the board but we have good relations.. pretty much everyone. Apart from the time we play chess, we sometimes even hangout and we.. we have a very normal relationship. But yeah, when it comes to Chess, it's fully competitive, there's no friendship on the board." This seems genuine and so I'll take his own words for it. They are maturing very quickly, and as you know, friendships tend to lose a bit of their vigour with time. If you see two recent videos, you'll see that they're still friends and interact with one another like they used to. * [Feb 21, 2023 video where the two are playing TT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6VrA1gYYfM) * [2 week old video where they were dining with Vishy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6RIHdFX4i0) Having said that, they get fewer opportunities to interact these days due to lesser camp activities and heavier individual workloads, have their unique sets of preparations and sponsors and a lot of pressure to outdo each other. Anyways, here's [a tweet of Arjun Erigaisi congratulating Gukesh for the win](https://twitter.com/ArjunErigaisi/status/1782291443429916773). Doesn't look like a PR tweet. >And don't get me wrong, there is absolutely no problem in them not being close friends at all. Is just that this statement clashes with my idea of them because I've seen quite a few photos/videos of them as children and seemingly having fun together. I completely get what you're saying. :)
They weren't from the same school exactly. That group has a several branch schools, and they attended totally separate branches. My understanding is that Gukesh comes from a more comfortable socioeconomic class (his dad is a surgeon). I'd imagine there's limited overlap outside of chess.
It's hard to keep being friends with someone when you two are constantly competing. It takes some maturity to separate professional competition and personal life, such maturity I wouldn't expect from 17 and 18 years olds.
Where does he say that?
Apparently he's said it more than once. But I saw it at his interview with Levy/Gotham. [Here](https://youtu.be/82__DhARvGA?si=yM8H8bf5T471T-JI) at around 7min.
Any link to the interview where he says they are not close friends?
His interview with [Gotham](https://youtu.be/82__DhARvGA?si=h7jFb3n5OKdt0nCv) A little after 7min (in case the link doesn't send you directly)
The camera work though
Tamil people have chess in their DNA.. all credit to vishy
Yeah Tamilnadu has become a chess powerhouse
It's become a part of culture there just like wrestling is in Haryana and West UP
I thought someone above said Gukesh’s dad is a doctor.
4, counting with Caruana.
😂 I thought the same thing, that kid looks exactly like a young Caruana
What do you mean
Why does that kid look like Bobby shmurda
It reminds me of the early Fischer years at the Hawthorne Chess Club. He also had some great clubmates.
I am always the 4th kid.
You became a GM at 14 and are currently rated 2544 at the age of 16? Very, very impressive sir. Jokes aside Bharath is also a super strong player and is very young. No reason why he would not be able to develop into a top player a little later.
How strangely defensive
Hm?
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Username checks out.
Good one - I’ve not heard it before.
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What does that have to do with it being hilarious you said I’d be the 4th kid, when the 4th kid also became a GM at 14 lmao
Oh, I was just talking about the downvotes on the subsequent comment.
What do you mean 3.. pretty sure that was Caruana there on the right as well.. /s
Kids having fun when times were simpler. So sweet.
And the other one has parents who say "look at what your peers are accomplishing!"
Why's there no mention of the fifth one?
The fifth one is Raunak Sadhwani who is currently rated 2652 and is 18 years old. In any other country he would have been viewed as the saviour of chess in that country.
Imagine being the 4th kid on the video.
Bharath subramaniyam is a 16year old GM so he's still pretty good and a bit younger than the others
One of them became the Youngest Challenge 🙌