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Chess Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa shared a video of himself playing jenga with friends. (Screenshot)
Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa showcased his versatility by spending his escaped clip playing Jenga, sharing his acquisition done a video connected societal media level X connected Thursday.
The young Grandmaster, who won the Tata Masters earlier successful the twelvemonth and secured a spot successful the prestigious Grand Chess Tour Final successful Brazil, demonstrated however helium unwinds betwixt competitions portion maintaining his competitory edge.Praggnanandhaa shared his thoughts connected the parallel betwixt chess and Jenga done a societal media post, stating: "Chess needs focus, but Jenga tests your nerves too. Great to unwind and stock immoderate laughs with friends during escaped time."WATCH: R Praggnanandhaa plays jenga with friends during disconnected timeThe chess champion's caller achievements see finishing arsenic runner-up astatine the 2025 Sinquefield Cup, which secured his presumption successful the Grand Chess Tour Final successful Brazil. This accomplishment further solidifies his lasting among the world's apical chess players.His triumph astatine the Tata Masters highlighted an emerging rivalry with World Champion D. Gukesh, arsenic they faced disconnected successful a decisive tiebreaker round. This contention underscores the rising prominence of Indian chess players connected the planetary stage.
The chess scenery successful India has experienced important maturation successful caller years, with the country's occurrence successful planetary tournaments serving arsenic grounds of this upward trajectory. Praggnanandhaa's accordant performances against established players, including matches against Magnus Carlsen, person contributed to this rising trend.The 20-year-old grandmaster is present acceptable to enactment successful the Global Chess League Season 3 draft, scheduled to instrumentality spot successful Mumbai connected Friday.
He volition beryllium featured arsenic 1 of the Icon players successful the draft, portion World Champion Gukesh is besides successful the Icons category.The draught includes a excavation of 36 elite players, featuring renowned names specified arsenic five-time satellite champion Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, and Alireza Firouzja. Other notable participants see Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, Arjun Erigaisi, four-time satellite champion Hou Yifan, and World Cup finalist Koneru Humpy.
