25-year-old Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram is close to winning his first major title

25-year-old Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram of Tamil Nadu has almost won his first major title. He defeated Czech Republic's David Navarro in the eighth round of the current Prague Masters Chess Tournament in Lausanne and drew comfortably. He has now secured a solo lead with 5.5 points. Nine games are being played in this tournament. Aravindh has to face the last match with Turkish Grandmaster Idiz Gurel and needs a draw only to win the title.

India's young Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa is in second place with five points. He drew the match with Vietnam's Kyang Liam Ly on Friday. Now he has to play against Netherlands' veteran player Anish Giri in the last round. At the same time, China's top seed Wei Yi, who lost two of the first three matches, has won and taken a sole lead with 4.5 points in the third place. Now he has defeated local player Nguyen Thai.

Aravindh is a resident of Thirunagar, Madurai, Tamil Nadu. His childhood was very difficult for him because his father died when he was just three years old. His mother worked in a life insurance company and raised the son.

His maternal grandfather is credited with making Aravindh a chess player. Although Aravindh loved cricket and insisted on playing with children outside, his maternal grandfather wanted him to stay at home. In such a situation, he started teaching Aravindh chess when he was seven years old.

At the age of just 12, Aravindh achieved his first major success and won the Under-19 Chess Championship. In 2012, he finished second in the Under-14 World Chess Championship.