R Praggnanandhaa is now India’s No. 1 chess player in live chess ratings, a historic achievement that has made headlines throughout the chess world. At just 19, Praggnanandhaa claimed the UzChess Cup Masters title spectacularly, defeating home favourite Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the final round.
This win mounted his live rating to 2778.3, making him World No. 4 and the highest-ranked Indian on the planet. But as the spotlight intensifies and the headlines celebrate this achievement, Indian chess, those closest to R Praggnanandhaa insist that this new milestone won’t “impact” him at all.
R Praggnanandhaa On His Live Ratings
“I became India’s number one because of one point. So I don’t think it really matters. These one or two points can go either way in one game. I don’t think I’ll pay attention to that so much,” he told ANI, emphasizing that his focus remains on his performance, not the ratings on the leaderboard.
Further, he explained that the tournament meant more to him than being India’s number 1. He said, “For me, more than that, the tournament that I just won was much more special. I mean, like for me, I take a tournament at a time. I don’t pay too much attention to the like these one or two rating points that change.”
R Praggnanandhaa Qualifies For The Esports World Cup 2025, Joins Team Liquid Alongside Magnus Carlsen
R Praggnanandhaa also recently got selected in the Team Liquid for the upcoming Esports World Cup 2025 along with world-class chess players like Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.
The team officially shared the news on their X handle and wrote, “Before chess conquered the world, it was born in India. For centuries, India has shaped the game. Now, it shapes the future. Praggnanandhaa R. carries that legacy forward — and today, he joins ours. Welcome to Team Liquid. The future of chess starts here. Pragg.”
He gathered appreciation from Magnus Carlsen, who replied under the official post and wrote, “Whole lot of letters in Praggnanandhaa, but no «I». Welcome to the team.”
Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura also appreciated R Praggnanandhaa and commented, “Pragg is a rare gem in the chess world.”
Reacting to the compliments, he said, “It feels good, but I don’t think it will impact me in any way. I’ll try to do what I’m doing, but yeah, it’s good to see such comments. It inspires me to do better and gives me confidence.”
The Esports World Cup 2025 will begin on 8 July in Riyadh, while the Las Vegas Grand Slam 2025 is scheduled for 16-20 July 2025 at Wynn Resorts.
Also Read: Not “A Good Thing” – R Praggnanandhaa On Magnus Carlsen’s Table Slam
