The 12 year old International Master R Praggnanandhaa recorded one of the biggest upset in the fifth round of the Isle of Man International Chess tournament when he upset British Grand-master David Howell to move to joint third position in the overall standing.
The Indian chess prodigy, who already has an ELO rating of 2500, forced the three time British Champion into abject surrender in 64 moves to take his points tally to 3.5. This was Praggnanandhaa’s third win in five rounds with his only loss coming against Englishman GM Michael Adams in second round.
Praggnanandhaa, looking to become the world’s youngest-ever Grandmaster on the all-time list by picking up three GM norms by the first week of March next year, scored one of the biggest victories of his budding career in upsetting Howell, rated 201 points above at 2701.
He was the Under-8 boys champion in the World Youth Chess Championship, a tournament he won in 2013. He is also the Under-10 boys champion from the same tournament from 2015.
Another Indian GM SP Sethuraman moved into the joint second position after beating GM Boris Gelfand of Israel in 52 moves. Sethuraman will now play former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who played out a draw against Sweden’s Nils Grandelius.
