R Praggnanandhaa drops verdict on rivalry with D Gukesh: ‘I started playing chess before him. I was already stronger…’

R Praggnanandhaa won the Tata Masters this year, and his rivalry with D Gukesh was reflected as they faced each other in the title-deciding tiebreaker round.

Chess in India has seen a massive boom for the past few years, and it has been perfectly justified by the country's recent success in international events. Last year, D Gukesh became the youngest-ever World Champion, beating Ding Liren in the World Championships in Singapore. Meanwhile, Divya Deshmukh won the Women's World Cup title this year, defeating veteran Koneru Humpy in an all-Indian final.

R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh after a match.(Twitter)

The rivalry between Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi has also become huge. Recently, Gukesh slipped out of the top ten in the live chess rankings and currently sits in 11th position. Meanwhile, Arjun is fourth, and Praggnanandhaa is fifth.

Praggnanandhaa also won the Tata Masters this year, and his rivalry with Gukesh was well-reflected as the pair faced each other in the title-deciding tiebreaker round.

Opening up on his rivalry with Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa told Curly Tales, "I started playing before him. I was already stronger (in the game) when I was growing up in my age category. We played in some open events when we were young but nowadays we play a lot because we are at the top events and tournaments."