Chess: Prraneeth Vuppala becomes India's 82nd Grandmaster

Telangana's Vuppala Prraneeth became the 82nd Indian chess Grandmaster (GM) following a win over the controversy-marred American GM Hans Niemann in the penultimate round of the 2023 Baku Open.

Prraneeth, however, lost his final round battle against fellow Indian GM Luke Mendonca, who was ultimately crowned the tournament champion.

The 15-year-old Prraneeth had earned his first GM norm in March 2022, where he also earned the title of an International Master (IM), before earning his second norm in July of the same year. He earned his third and earlier this year at the 2nd Chessable Sunway Formentera Open 2023.

Having already achieved all the required norms to achieve the GM title, Vuppala crossed the magical 2500 elo mark in live ratings following his win over Niemann.

Hailing from a Ilagadapa village in Nalgonda district, Prraneeth Vuppala started playing chess at the age of mere five-and-half years. The youngster picked up the sport after watching his father play with one of his friends.

Vuppala has since grown from strength to strength and also holds the distinction of being a former world number 1 in the under-11 age group category.