Chennai

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday honoured Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa with Rs 50 lakh, and tried his hand at a game with the 20-year-old city player at the Secretariat here.

The chief minister who felicitated Praggnanandhaa, who became the first Indian to win the prestigious Norway Chess title with a final round victory over Germany's Vincent Keymer in Oslo, played a game of chess with the young Grandmaster at his Chamber.

As Vijay, completely absorbed in the game stood up beside his huge office table to make a strategic move to defend his king, Praggnanandhaa, the latter's parents, state Public Works and Sports Development Minister Aadhav Arjuna, and member secretary of Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu J Meghanatha Reddy, stood around watching.

Later, Vijay presented a cheque for Rs 50 lakh as cash incentive on behalf of SDAT to the young grandmaster for etching his name in history.

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Earlier, Praggnanandhaa described his Norway Chess triumph as the biggest achievement of his career, emphasising that defeating some of the world's strongest players including Magnus Carlsen made the title particularly memorable.

He became the first Indian to win Norway Chess since the tournament's inception in 2013.