The second youngest player in the group (and all 3 GM groups for that matter!), Negi is also the world’s second youngest GM after Karjakin. He got his title at 13 years 4 months and 22 days. Almost exactly one year earlier, the Indian prodigy made headlines when he became the youngest ever player to achieve an IM title. The New Delhian super-talent started playing chess just before he was 5 (he was introduced to the game by a friend of his father), and was quickly recognized as someone to watch for.

Despite his tender age, Parimarjan (just don’t call him Pari: that’s his mom’s name) is quite the veteran, having played consistently and against increasingly strong opposition over the years. He has very good results from several Asian youth events (among others, he is the previous Asian under 10 champ) and has a bronze medal in the world under 12 championships in 2004. Though neither one of his parents plays chess, Negi always received their full support, and now with his success he also gets state and private sponsorship that permits him to keep active.

He is making his second appearance to Wijk aan Zee, having played here in 2005 and scoring 5.5 points and 8th place. He is a big Harry Potter fan, and quite naturally his favorite chess player is Vishy Anand.