NEW DELHI: Young Indian grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has defeated the reigning world chess champion Ding Liren of China at the Tata Steel Masters tournament in the Netherlands.

Indian young prodigy Praggnanandhaa has crossed yet another milestone in his career. The 18-year-old from Chennai has overtaken Viswanathan Anand in the FIDE rating and has reached the top of the chess rankings in India.

Praggnanandhaa became India's No. 1 chess player after defeating reigning world champion Ding Liren of China in the fourth round. He had defeated Liren in the fourth round of the same tournament last year. He played with the black chess pieces. Praggnanandhaa is the only Indian to beat the reigning world champion after Anand. Praggnanandhaa has 2748.3 FIDE rating points. Anand has 2748 points. Ding Liren's rating is 2780.

Praggnanandhaa was a Grand Master at the age of 12 and holds the distinction of becoming the youngest Indian to become a Grandmaster and the second youngest player in the world. Praggnanandhaa's sister Vaishali had also become a Grand Master recently.