BHIM-UPI 2019 Nominees: Chess

NEW DELHI: The fourth edition of the Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA), powered by BHIM-UPI, is India's first of its kind and largest multi-discipline people's choice sports awards. TOISA is a platform created by the Times Group to recognise and reward Indian sporting talent and achievements on a global scale and will be held soon to honour the lionhearts who have given their blood, sweat and tears to make the country proud.
Ahead of the TOISA to be held on March 5, here's a recap of the how these Indian chess wizards fared in the year 2019.
Viswanathan Anand
The veteran warhorse continues to give the GenNext of Indian chess a lesson or two on the chess circuit. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand's most notable aspect of his career is his longevity. You will find an active player very rare who is in his 50s. And even at that age he remains a regular top-10 presence on the rating list, achieving the ninth spot in October 2019. Anand is the only player to have won the world championship in tournament, match, and knockout format, as well as rapid time controls.

R Praggnanandhaa
R Praggnanandhaa, who created history in 2018 when he became the second youngest Grandmaster in the world at 12 years, 10 months and 13 days, announced his arrival in the world of chess in 2019. Praggnanandhaa won the Xtracon Chess Open title in Copenhagen in July to bag his first title of 2019. This was his first tournament win since becoming a Grandmaster in June last year. The 14-year-old headed into the World Youth Championships as one of the pre-tournament favourites and he lived up to his top billing by winning the U-18 Open category of the tournament in October.