V. Prraneeth of Telangana became the latest International Master when he achieved the mandatory third IM norm in the final round of the First Saturday round-robin tournament in Budapest (Hungary) late on Tuesday.
In the process, he also earned the first Grandmaster norm. The 15-year-old earned his first IM norm in Serbia in 2018 at the age of 11 and the second norm in January 2022 in the Vergani Cup. Having crossed the 2400 Elo mark before the start of the tournament, Prraneeth drew with fellow Indian IM V.S. Rathanvel in the final round.
With consistent performances in the last five months, Prraneeth earned 179 Elo points. “My next goal is to become the GM and then chase the bigger targets like becoming a World champion,” said the confident young player who was World No. 1 in the under-11 category in 2018.
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Coached by N.V.S. Rama Raju, who has trained the likes of GM Dronavalli Harika and many other youngsters, Prraneeth is known for his very strong opening and middle games. “His biggest asset is his patience. Can engage the opponents in marathon battles and never gives up easily, and once he even forced GM Gata Kamsky to settle for a draw after a long battle,” said Rama Raju.
Prraneeth has been competing in the European circuit the last few months and will be in action in the GM round-robin tournament in Budapest, where he is expecting to earn his second GM norm.
“We are grateful to the blessings of the Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who has been a huge source of inspiration and support to us,” said the proud father Srinivasa Chary, assistant commissioner in GST (state government).
Coming from a relatively obscure village of Alagadda in Nalgonda district of Telangana, Prraneeth, who admires world champion, Magnus Carlsen, is determined to scale new heights with his mother Dhanalakshmi, a lecturer in a goverment college, also backing him to the hilt.
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