Anand-mentored teen sensations Nihal, Praggnanandhaa get FIDE President's wildcard for Chess WC

Mentored by chess wizard Viswanathan Anand, teen sensations Nihal Sarin and Praggnanandhaa have received FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich's wildcard for participating in the upcoming Chess World Cup.

"BREAKING! Rising Indian stars Nihal Sarin & Praggnanandhaa get the FIDE President's (@advorkovich) wildcard. @NihalSarin & @rpragchess will play in the @FIDE_chess World Cup next month," tweeted Chess.com's official page for news in India. The same was retweeted by Sarin. While he is a 16-year-old Chess Grandmaster, Praggnanandhaa is a 15-year-old Grand Master.

Five-time world champion Anand personally mentors Nihal Sarin and Praggnanandhaa at his academy along with Raunak Sadhwani, Gukesh and Vaishali.

Anand had announced the launch of his chess academy in partnership with WestBridge Capital in December last year. "I am very excited to announce the launch of WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA). Very happy to partner with WestBridge Capital in realising a long dream of mine to nurture talent in India. (1/2)#WestBridgeCapital #ChessPlayers #ChessGame," Anand had tweeted on December 14, 2020.

"This will be a fellowship program that will aim to take our most talented junior chess prodigies to the top ranks. Sandeep Singhal at WestBridge Capital and I share the common philosophy that excellence can result from the right grooming, opportunity and training #TheNextAnand.

"I will personally be monitoring their progress both as a person and as a chess player!" he added.

On December 16, he further added: "The academy is to mentor young talents who could crack the top level in the next years. So its @rpragchess @DGukesh @NihalSarin @sadhwani2005 and Vaishali! The aim is to provide mentoring by me and training by world renowned trainers like Artur Jussupow , Gajewski , Sandipan etc."

The Chess World Cup 2021 is a 206-player single-elimination chess tournament and it will take place in Sochi, Russia, from July 10-August 3.

This will be the ninth edition of the Chess World Cup and the top two finishers in the tournament apart from Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov, will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2022.

The rest of the final eight will qualify for the FIDE Grand Prix 2022, unless they are world champion or they qualify for the Candidates via another path.

The tournament is an eight-round knockout event, and the top 50 seeds will be seeded directly into the second round.

( With inputs from ANI )