Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa has got a new admirer in business tycoon Gautam Adani, who on Thursday announced his decision to support the 18-year-old Grandmaster. Adani shared on ‘X’ a picture of his meeting with Praggnanandhaa as he described the Chennai-based chess star as an inspiration for countless young Indians to bring laurels for the country.

“It’s a privilege to support Praggnanandhaa as he continues to win laurels in the world of chess and make India proud,” Adaniu wrote. “His success is an inspiration to countless young Indians to believe that nothing is more gratifying than standing on the podium to celebrate our nation’s greatness.

“Praggnanandhaa represents what India can and will be all about. I wish him all the very best.” Praggnanandhaa is the fifth youngest Grandmaster ever, having attained the rank at the age of 12 in 2018. He won the Xtracon Chess Open in Denmark in 2019, followed by the World Youth Championships in the U-18 category the same year. In December 2019, Praggnanandhaa attained 2,600 ELO rating, only the second youngest player to do so, at the age of 14 years, three months and 24 days. He defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2022, becoming only the third Indian to do so after the legendary Viswanathan Anand and Pentala Harikrishna. He went on to beat Carlsen four more times in the same year.

In 2023, Praggnanandhaa finished runner-up to Carlsen in the Chess World Cup in Baku, where he became the youngest player to reach the final and the second Indian to do so after Anand. As a result of finishing second in the World Cup, he has secured a spot in the Candidates Tournament set to be held in Toronto, Canada in April this year to identify the challenger to world champion Ding Liren of China.

The remaining eight players come from a 32-player pool who play the qualifiers between January 7 and 8.

Indians Rishi Reddy, Manish G, Manish Sureshkumar and Neeraj Yashpal received wild card entries for the main event.