As Praggnanandhaa And Gukesh Shine, Is India The New Talent-Churning Machine In Chess?

For a long time, Viswanathan Anand was the lone flag-bearer of Indian chess, taking the world by storm with his exploits. Things have changed in the last decade or so, with numerous talented players emerging on the Indian chess scene, making the country a formidable force in the world. With the country producing Grandmasters almost on demand, Anand went so far as to say that the current lot happens to be the golden generation in Indian chess. Four Indian players -- R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, D Gukesh and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi -- reached the quarterfinal of the FIDE World Cup at Baku in a first for the country in a sport dominated for long by erstwhile Soviet Union and later Russia at various points.

Praggnanandhaa shone through bright, reaching the final of the World Cup, the first Indian after Anand to do so and also secured a place in the Candidates Tournament next year to determine the challenger to current world champion Ding Liren.

He defeated the world No.2 and No.3 Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana respectively during the run to the final.

The teenaged trio of Praggnanandhaa (18), Gukesh (17) and Erigaisi (19) are trailblazers, so to speak. While Praggnanandhaa's accomplishments are well documented, Gukesh has gone from strength to strength in the last year and Erigiasi's stock has risen too.

Praggnanandhaa, who has become the third-youngest player after the legendary Bobby Fischer of the US and Norway's Magnus Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament, has been tipped for greatness ever since he emerged on the scene.

By qualifying for the Candidates, he has also put himself in line to be able to become the challenger for the world crown.

Gukesh has been on a brilliant run since his superb