Pranav Venkatesh wins FIDE World U-18 Youth Rapid & Blitz Chess titles

In Chess, India’s Pranav Venkatesh made history by clinching both the FIDE World Under-18 Youth Rapid and Blitz titles in Slovenia on Tuesday. The top-seeded Indian Grandmaster from Chennai triumphed in the Rapid category, scoring an impressive 9.5 points to secure the gold medal. Russia’s Alexander Khripachenko claimed silver with 9 points, while Ukraine’s Roman Pyrih earned the bronze with 7.5



points.

In the Blitz category, Pranav amassed an astounding 19.5 points, finishing with a round to spare. Russia’s Dmitry Mochalov claimed silver with 15.5 points, while his compatriot Khripachenko took bronze. Pranav was the only Grandmaster competing in the entire event, which included six categories across both Rapid and Blitz formats.