Mumbai, Nov. 11 -- "Pranav is buddy and buddy is Pranav." In a single post on social media from over two years ago, world No.1 and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen had announced to the world the growing threat of Pranav Venkatesh. The teenager from Tamil Nadu, nicknamed 'Buddy,' had helped Carlsen stay in the race for the only hurdle he had not quite conquered at the time - winning a title at a team event. Now 19, Pranav has simply grown from strength to strength. Last December, he won gold medals in the Under-18 section of the World Youth Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship. In March, his stock continued to grow when he became the fourth Indian man to win the Junior World Chess Championship. And over the weekend in Goa, at a venue a few minutes away from Baga beach, Pranav continued to make waves and moved into the fourth round of the Chess World Cup. "World Junior Champion is one thing," Pranav said to the media earlier in the tournament, "I'm aiming for much higher stuff. In this World Cup, I want to do very well." So far, he has done exactly that. Ranked world No.83, India's 75th Grandmaster was not given a bye and had to play in the first round of the competition. But he started off with a straight-forward 2-0 win over Eddine Ala Boulrens of Algeria - clinching each of the two classical format games. There was a stumble in the second round against Norway's GM Aryan Tari. Pranav won the opening match despite using the black, but then lost in the second classical match to take the round into a tiebreak. In the decider though, Pranav reset quickly and won the opening match in the rapid format and then hung onto a draw while using the black to eke out a 2.5-1.5 win. The third round match against Lithuania's Titas Stremavicius had a moment of controversy. Pranav appeared to have not noted down a few moves on his scoresheet, prompting his opponent to make an official complaint to the arbiters. The confusion caused a break in play as three arbiters worked to resolve the issue, eventually handing the teenager a warning. Pranav, however, remained composed, winning the match on Day 1 of the round before holding on for a draw to secure his spot in the third round. "His performance so far has been good. I think he has faced many of these people before in multiple tournaments," said Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand to HT. "So the World Cup will be an interesting challenge in the sense of training his knockout skills. But it's one more step in his evolution." Up next is Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Yakubboev. But Pranav has had more than two days to rest, recover and prepare. He also carries with him the learnings of that time when he played along with Carlsen in the Offerspill Sjakklubb team at the European Club Cup in 2023. "His knowledge is incredible, and I learned a lot from him," Pranav said. It was not just the Norwegian that Pranav learned from. The teenager is also a product of Anand's academy, WACA. "Since (joining the academy) he has been working very hard, deepening his chess. Working systematically and professionally on his openings and other skills. The World Junior Championship and his performance in the current World Cup are both good signs of his strength," Anand said. "He's strong enough that his opponents will take him seriously. But so far, he benefits from not too much pressure. Hopefully, that frees him a little bit to play to his strength." Pranav though, is already looking ahead to one day becoming the world champion at the senior level. "My other aims are to try and qualify for the world championship cycle. Since the World Cup is the only qualification (tournament) left for the Candidates, I will try my best here," Pranav added. Only the top three spots from this World Cup will be awarded an entry into the Candidates event -- the gateway to the World Championships. But in this era where young Indian chess players have been defying odds, Pranav cannot be written off. Along with Pranav, four more Indians are still active in the tournament out of the 24 that had started the World Cup. Second seed Arjun Erigaisi has a tricky encounter in the fourth round with 2004 World Championship runner-up Peter Leko of Hungary. In the same half of the draw, 2023 World Cup finalist R Praggnanandhaa plays Russian GM Daniil Dubov for a spot in the fifth round. Veteran Harikrishna Pentala, the second Indian man after Anand to win the Junior World Championship (in 2004) takes on Swedish GM Nils Grandelius, while Karthik Venkataraman will play Vietnam's Le Quang Liem....