Junior champ Pranav V shines at Chennai Grand Masters despite lack of experience

It would be an understatement to say that Indian Grandmaster Pranav V entered the Chennai Grand Masters 2025 with the odds heavily stacked against him.

The 18-year-old entered the main draw after winning the Challengers section in 2024. In the Masters event this time out, he is part of a top-class field, where he is simultaneously the youngest and the lowest rated.

To top it up, Pranav has been in the trenches without a coach or trainer in his corner, after having decided to go solo earlier this year.

Facing up against these adversities, Pranav, the reigning junior world champion, enters the final leg of the Chennai Grand Masters with his reputation only enhanced.

After the seventh round, Pranav has lost just two games, while drawing the other five against players who are a few levels ahead of him.

Going up against Indian No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi, in the fifth round of the tournament, Pranav had a card up his sleeve – the classical-central variation of Ruy Lopez, a deviation from his usual opening play with black.

Pranav leaned heavily on the advantage he gained from the early surprise move to squeeze out a draw against Erigaisi.

He later revealed that the opening variation was something he had planned for Dutch GM Anish Giri in the fourth round, but then decided to save it for Erigaisi.

Pranav’s decision-making process highlighted his individualism, while also contextualising his decision to part with coach Shyam Sundar and play at the top level without a trainer.

“Let’s say if I am working with somebody. They will also do some work. But here [at Chennai Grand Masters], I have been trying to choose what to play, and I have been trying to find what I can do by myself. I think it will be [more] helpful for my future.

I just wanted to try something because I like doing this stuff by myself. It will really help my chess a lot because I think the more work I do, the better I will get,” added Pranav, explaining his reason to play without a coach.

Pranav’s impressive performance has earned him applause from many, including RB Ramesh, one of India’s leading chess coaches.

“In general, he has been improving quite well. He is playing well for his age. He is holding his ground against higher-rated players. Also, with the black pieces, he has almost managed an equal position against Arjun, which is not easy. I think he has a great future ahead,” said Ramesh.

On Wednesday, Pranav displayed another facet of his chess – back-to-the-wall defence. Against Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest in the seventh round, the teenager found himself in a perilous endgame, where at one point he was trailing his opponent by more than three points in the evaluation bar.

But Pranav held his nerves on the face of near-defeat to wring out an equal position and soon secured a draw, after a game that clocked more than four hours.

“I was relieved to make a draw from that position. I think my opening went well, but in the middle game, I made some inaccuracies. But this Queen endgame was very difficult because he was a pawn up. But it was not that easy for him to break through.

I think I was defending well till a point, but when I allowed his King to enter my side of the board, I think he got some chances. But I was sure I would make a draw when he played Qf7. I think he missed my move, Queen c4, after which he just had to trade, and it was a drawn endgame,” said Pranav, explaining his dramatic clash with van Foreest.

Pranav’s appreciable show in Chennai adds flair to what has been a turbulent 2025, where he has tasted success and failure in equal measure. He believes the constant oscillation is down to his inability to temper his attacking instincts.

“The year started very well after I won the World Juniors. But after that, in a few open tournaments, I did not perform that well. I was just pushing a lot. I think that was the main issue.

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Against lower-rated players, I was just not taking the draw and was just pushing a lot. I don’t think I played badly. Those things happen. I just try to rectify the mistakes,” said Pranav.

Pranav opined that it was a style of chess ingrained into his nature, which makes it difficult for him to adapt.

“It’s just my style. Even from a very young age, if I was playing a higher-rated player, even if they offered a draw, I never agreed to it. I think it’s just that I am more of a fighting player,” says Pranav.

While Pranav is pleased to wear the crown of junior world champion, he hopes the title is just the beginning.

“I mean, that is a very big deal. But I want to try to achieve more. I think being the World Junior Champion is just the start. I think there is more to it,” he adds.