Pranav V
{{Short description|Indian chess grandmaster (born 2006)}}
{{Distinguish|Pranav Anand}}
{{Indian name|Pranav|Venkatesh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox chess player
| name = Pranav V
| image = PranavVenkatesh 2022.jpg
| caption = Pranav in 2022
| country = India
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|2006|10|13}}
| birth_place = Bangalore, Karnataka, India
| title = Grandmaster (2022){{cite web|url=https://ratings.fide.com/crt/main229176.pdf|title=FIDE Title Application (GM)}}
| peakrating = 2632 (June 2024)
| FideID = 25060783
}}
Pranav Venkatesh (born 13 October 2006), also known as Buddy Pranav, is an Indian chess grandmaster and the 2025 World Junior Chess Champion.
Chess career
Pranav began playing chess at the age of 6, and had several coaches including Visweswaran Kameswaran. He obtained his first two GM norms at the Serbia Open in 2021 and in the Vezerkepzo GM tournament in Budapest, Hungary in June 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.chessbase.in/news/Pranav-Venkatesh-becomes-Indias-75th-Grandmaster|title=Pranav Venkatesh becomes India's 75th Grandmaster|date=August 22, 2022|last=Ahmed|first=Shahid}}
In August 2022, Pranav obtained his final norm by winning the Limpedea Open in Baia Mare, Romania championship, becoming the 75th grandmaster from India and the 27th grandmaster from the state of Tamil Nadu.{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/chess/chennai-lad-v-pranav-becomes-indias-75th-grandmaster-8076865/|title=Chennai lad V Pranav becomes India's 75th Grandmaster|date=August 7, 2022}}
In October 2022, he played for India in the World U-16 Youth Olympiad (alongside Pranesh M, Harshad S, Rohit S, Mrittika Mallick, and Boramanikar Tanisha S), alongside competing in the Magnus Carlsen Academy Challenge, winning both events.{{cite web|url=https://thesouthfirst.com/tamilnadu/15-year-old-tamil-nadu-gm-pranav-v-wins-gold-finishes-first-in-two-strong-international-tournaments-at-the-same-time/|title=15-year-old Tamil Nadu GM Pranav V wins gold, finishes first in two strong international tournaments at the same time|last=Tomar|first=Ajay|date=October 11, 2022}} He later won chess24's Challengers Chess Tour by defeating Raunak Sadhwani in the final round.{{cite web|url=https://new.chess24.com/wall/news/v-for-victory-pranav-v-wins-challengers-chess-tour-in-style|title=V for victory! Pranav V wins Challengers Chess Tour in style|date=October 31, 2022|last=Watson|first=Leon}}
In October 2023, he competed in the 38th edition of the European Chess Club Cup with Offerspill Sjakklub. Led by Magnus Carlsen, Offerspill Sjakklubb triumphed, after scoring a decisive last-round victory against Asnieres – Le Grand Echiquier (France).{{Cite web |date=2023-10-08 |title=Magnus Carlsen wins his first major team event for Offerspill Sjakklubb at 38th European Club Cup 2023 - ChessBase India |url=https://www.chessbase.in/news/European-Chess-Club-Cup-2023-Round-7-report |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=www.chessbase.in}} Pranav's overall performance of 5/7, including victories against Jorden van Foreest and Grigoriy Oparin in the last two rounds, earned him a tweet from the world no.1 Magnus Carlsen - "Pranav is buddy and buddy is Pranav".{{Cite web |title=Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 38th European Chess Club Cup |url=https://chess-results.com/tnr774133.aspx?lan=1&art=9&turdet=YES&flag=30&snr=432 |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=chess-results.com}}
In January 2024, Pranav competed in the fifth edition of the Puzzles World Championships, hosted by chess.com, finishing 4th place overall. However, he produced the strongest resistance to eventual (5-time) winner Ray Robson, achieving a score of 3-5 sets with an aggregate puzzle score of 416-430.{{Cite web |last=Levin |first=Anthony |date=2024-01-12 |title=Puzzles World Championship 2024: Robson Wins 5th Consecutive Title, Beats Young Gun” |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/2024-puzzles-world-championship-robson-wins |access-date=2024-01-13 |website=Chess.com |language=en-US}}
In November 2024, Pranav won the Challengers section of Chennai Grand Masters and qualified to compete in main section of the event in 2025.{{Cite news |date=2024-11-12 |title=Chennai Grandmasters: Pranav bags Masters berth with Challenger title win |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/chess/chennai-grandmasters-pranav-bags-masters-berth-with-challenger-title-win/articleshow/115201103.cms |access-date=2024-12-17 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}
Pranav won two golds in the Under-18 Open Rapid and Under-18 Open Blitz section at the FIDE World Youth Rapid and Blitz Championship held in Terme Čatež, Slovenia from 13th to 17th December 2024.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-17 |title=Pranav Venkatesh clinches double Gold at World Youth Under-18 Open Rapid and Blitz 2024 - ChessBase India |url=https://www.chessbase.in/news/Pranav-Venkatesh-clinches-double-Gold-at-FIDE-World-Youth-Under-18-Open-Rapid-and-Blitz-2024 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=www.chessbase.in}}
Pranav won the World Junior Chess Championship held at Petrovac, Budva in Montenegro on 7 March 2025 with a score of 9/11..{{cite web |title=India’s Pranav Venkatesh wins World Junior Chess Championship |url=https://sportstar.thehindu.com/chess/pranav-venkatesh-wins-world-junior-chess-championship-results-standings/article69304268.ece |access-date=7 March 2025}} He became the fourth Indian to win the World Junior title after Viswanathan Anand in 1987, Pentala Harikrishna in 2004, and Abhijeet Gupta in 2008.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Indian grandmasters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venkatesh, Pranav}}
Category:Sportspeople from Bengaluru
Category:Chess Olympiad competitors
Category:World Junior Chess Champions
{{India-chess-bio-stub}}