Indian World Junior Chess Champion Pranav in (special arrangement) New Delhi: The desert sun stared from the hoods of two Mercedes-Benz cars when they turned to the entrance of Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, Sae. From 2024 the world junior champion, GM Kazybeka Nogerbek from Kazakhstan came out of 2024. From the White, Indian Indian GM Pranav Venkatesh, the newly crowned World Championship in 2025.There were no crowds, no fanfares. Banner of the tournament was not moving in the wind. And yet, what happened, a hole would strike a hole in the chess calendar.In the match, no one saw the one who was not announced, promoted or even known that there was an 18 -year -old Pranav was overthrown by 21 -year -old Nogerbek 1.5–0.5.Price? Acquiring entry to 2025 Fide Grand Swiss, one of the brutal gates to the 2026 candidates and finally the World Championship.“I thought I wasn’t going to play Grand Swiss”With Nigerian Tennyson Ewomazin Olisa, Chile’s Cristobal Henriquez Villagra and French foam, Jules has already filled three of the four continental places for the Grand Swiss 2025.The match, which later dubbed the “Asian Western emblem”, was so low -profile, caught the teenager GM outside the guard. “It was very surprising because I thought, well, I will not play in great Swiss this year,” said Pranav, who won the Grandmaster (GM) in 2022, in an exclusive interview of Timesofindia.com.“But suddenly I got this post office from the Asian chess Federation (ACF) that he wanted to organize a wild card match. And yeah, so it happened.”But the bets were huge. The two best finishes in the Velké Switzerland would qualify directly for the 2026 candidates tournament, the final eight players of Gauntlet before the World Championship in Chess Against D Gukesh.“I should have qualified according to the rating”Pranav missed Grand Swiss Cut for a beard rating. But the fate and the secret opportunity came to call.“I was supposed to qualify for Fide Grand Swiss by rating. But in the exact month they took the qualification, my rating dropped a bit,” said the player 2597.The organized ACF was a two -day sprint using the same time as Grand Swiss: 100 minutes for 40 moves, 50 for the next 20 and 15 for the remaining part. Pranav never played the format quite similar.“First, I have never played for such a long time this time. I have never played a match where it is like a knockout, you play two games,” he explained.“I just did normal things: with black I tried to be very solid as white I tried to win. It worked … I drew the first game with Black quite easily.Pranav joins the elite assemblyThis error would pave the way for Pranav’s Grand Swiss debut in Samarkand in Uzbekistan from 3 to 16 September.It will be eleven round Swiss format, which has the 116 best world’s best in the open section. In addition to two searched places in candidates 2026, it will also include a massive winning fund of $ 625,000.
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With the wilderness, Pranav joins the stacked Indian line -up, which includes world champion D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Pragggnanandhaa. The international heavy weight like Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Anish Giri will also be torn.But 18 -year -old from Chennai will come with perhaps the most unexpected invitation and at least the loss.“This year’s Grand Swiss is very strong and I’ll just try to play the best,” Pranav said. “In the next few tournaments I play, I will try to improve my rating and try to play the best. This will be my goal for the future.”He was out of the list for one minute. Another, he got out of white Benz in the middle of the heat and won his place on one of the most important prestigious tournaments of his young career.Out of nowhere? Maybe. But don’t make a mistake; The V V is ready for the reflector.
