India has a new 18-year-old world champion in chess! Grandmaster Pranav Venkatesh clinched the World Junior Chess Championship 2025 in Petrovac, Montenegro, on Friday, securing the title in the open section. The Chennai-based prodigy outplayed 157 participants, including 12 grandmasters, to claim the prestigious trophy. His final draw against Matic Lavrencic sealed his victory with an impressive 9/11 score.
Following a Legacy
Pranav now joins an elite list of Indian World Junior Champions, following legends like Viswanathan Anand (1987), Koneru Humpy (2001), Pentala Harikrishna (2004), Abhijeet Gupta (2008), Harika Dronavalli (2008), and Divya Deshmukh (2024).
Like Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, Pranav hails from Chennai’s Vellamal Institute and is a part of the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA), founded by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.
Anand’s Praise for Pranav
Chess legend Viswanathan Anand had high praise for Pranav’s talent: “I thought Pranav was just gifted. You could see it in his games and also a couple of people I consult pointed this out to me so that was useful confirmation.”
During a rough patch in Pranav’s career, Anand arranged extra training sessions at WACA to help him regain his form. “He had a run where he was struggling. Or let’s say, he was not going as fast as he might have liked. But recently, he’s found more momentum again and I think that’s a very good sign,” Anand noted.
Carlsen’s ‘Buddy’ & Rising Stardom
Pranav made headlines at the European Club Cup 2023, where he played alongside Magnus Carlsen in the Offerspill Sjakklubb team. His crucial win against Jorden van Foreest helped the team stay in the race for the title.
“Pranav is buddy and buddy is Pranav,” Carlsen tweeted after Pranav’s match-winning performance.
In the same year, Pranav made waves by defeating Carlsen in an online Titled Tuesday event. Anand, who played against Pranav at the European Club Cup, admired his resilience: “One thing which stood out was his resourcefulness. He’s very tenacious, he’s able to find hidden resources in difficult positions as well and that makes him a very tough player to play against.”
Since then, Pranav has continued to shine, winning the Challengers event at the Chennai Grand Masters 2024 and claiming double golds at the World Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship.
Pranav’s triumph comes on the same day that Aravindh Chithambaram won the Prague Masters title, marking yet another proud moment for Indian chess.