Vaishali, Ramesh Receive Awards, Pragg Backed By India's 2nd Richest Person
GM-elect Vaishali Rameshbabu has clinched one of India's most prestigious awards thanks to her chess prowess, while her brother GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu has secured new backing from an Indian billionaire. Their maestro trainer GM R.B Ramesh is also soaking up the spotlight with an award.
India continues to celebrate its chess stars just shy of two months since the announcement of a world championship move coupled with a substantial financial boost for their top players. In the past week alone, three pivotal figures in the Indian chess scene notched up three distinguished awards, with one securing a fresh sponsorship deal.
On Tuesday, Vaishali was presented with "India's Sports Oscar," the Arjuna Award. The recipients of the second-highest sporting honor of the country are selected by a committee for their "good performance in the field of sports over a period of four years" and for demonstrating "qualities of leadership, sportsmanship and a sense of discipline."
The awardees receive a cash prize of around $19,000, along with a bronze statuette and a ceremonial dress. The 22-year-old received the award from Indian President Droupadi Murmu.
#NationalSportsAwards
— PIB in Tamil Nadu (@pibchennai) January 9, 2024
President Droupadi Murmu confers #ArjunaAward, 2023 on R Vaishali in recognition of her outstanding achievements in #Chess@rashtrapatibhvn @ianuragthakur @chessvaishali @PIB_India #NationalSportsAwards2023 pic.twitter.com/8tSAdzYmIv
Vaishali received the award after a year in which she was voted Chess.com's Woman Player of the Year. She secured her final grandmaster norm in the Qatar Masters open tournament in October, and in the final days of December she crossed the 2500 mark, fulfilling the last requirement to become India's 84th grandmaster.
She is the third woman to achieve the title in India after GM Humpy Koneru (2002) and GM Harika Dronavalli (2011).
"Becoming a GM has been my goal since I started playing chess, so I was very excited but also felt some pressure… I’m very happy I finally managed to complete the title," she told Chess.com.
Vaishali joins a long list of chess players to receive the Arjuna Award since India's legendary IM Manuel Aaron was the first to receive it in 1961. However, she is only the fifth chess player to receive the award since 2010, with it last given to her brother Praggnanandhaa and IM Kulkarni Bhakti in 2022.
Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who received the award in 1985, called it a "proud moment for the Indian chess community" on X/Twitter.
President Murmu noted Vaishali's fantastic achievements in the last two years:
President Droupadi Murmu confers Arjuna Award, 2023 on Ms R Vaishali for her achievements in Chess. She has won:
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 9, 2024
● One Silver Medal (Women’s Team) in the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China in 2023.
● One Bronze Medal (Team) in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad in 2021.… pic.twitter.com/H09xHfyhDV
It wasn't the last recognition for the family. Praggnanandhaa has won Indian hearts and been honored with the CNN News-18 award for Rising Sports Stars category, where he outclassed cricketeers, a professional wrestler, and a women's hurdler.
CNN-News18's #IndianofTheYear in the #RisingSportsStar category goes to #Chess prodigy Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess)
— News18 (@CNNnews18) January 10, 2024
Watch as he receives the award from the chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking)
@Zakka_Jacob | #IOTYAwards @toyasingh @ShivaniGupta_5… pic.twitter.com/rUtzVMMHt2
If that wasn't enough, the wonderboy scored another major financial touchdown thanks to Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, currently ranked second on Forbes' list of the richest Indians and 16th worldwide.
His Adani Group is entering an undisclosed long-term deal with Praggnanandhaa, which comes in addition to the $36,000 boost from the All-Indian Chess Federation (AICF) in November.
The billionaire posted a picture of the two together, with Praggnanandhaa responding:
Thankyou very much for all the appreciation @gautam_adani sir! 🙏
— Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) January 6, 2024
Feeling really happy that the Adani group is supporting me at this crucial juncture in my career. Made me feel like I am being welcomed into a family😊Looking forward to perform well and bring glory to our nation🇮🇳 https://t.co/Q4YVSWP37D
Super-coach GM Ramesh RB was also honored with the Dronacharya Award in the category "Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games." Recipients receive a cash prize of $19,000 and are honored for having done "outstanding and meritorious work on a consistent basis and enabled sportspersons to excel in international events" in the last four years.
Ramesh runs Chess Gurukul Chess Academy, a school that has produced several international chess champions from Indian chess capital Chennai, including Praggnanandhaa. The 47-year-old has also been a coach for some of the nation's top players for more than a decade.
"It's a big honor and I feel humbled to be recognized by this award. I just hope that this will inspire more trainers from India to give all their best and produce a lot of champions for our country," he told Chessbase India.
The recognition of some of the key figures of Indian chess should be valuable for a nation that boasts five players in the Candidates tournaments in Toronto this April. GM Gukesh Dommaraju and GM Vidit Gujrathi will compete with Praggnanadhaa in the Open, while Vaishali will be accompanied by Humpy in the Women's Candidates.
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