Duolingo turns the spotlight on chess with Praggnanandhaa

Duolingo has expanded its learning offerings in India with the introduction of a chess course, supported by a campaign featuring chess grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The move places chess alongside the platform’s existing language, maths and music courses.

The campaign departs from traditional portrayals of chess players, presenting Praggnanandhaa in a contemporary and mainstream visual style. Billboards across Chennai and other cities show the grandmaster styled in modern attire, including a reworked take on Madras checks, alongside Duolingo’s mascot.

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The initiative has drawn attention online, with users reacting to the visual treatment of the chess player and the attempt to frame the sport in a more accessible, popular culture context. Members of the chess community have also responded to the visibility given to one of the sport’s young figures.

Karandeep Singh Kapany, regional marketing director at Duolingo, said: “Chess has long carried the perception of being either overly intellectual or inaccessible. Our ambition was to change that — to make the game inviting rather than intimidating. The Duolingo chess course is designed to democratize the sport and bring it to a much wider audience. Choosing Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa as the face of the course in India was a natural decision. He represents a new generation of chess excellence that is modern, aspirational, and deeply relatable. By presenting him through the same cultural lens we reserve for mainstream icons, we’re simply acknowledging what the chess community already knows: this is a sport with stars, stories, and a massive, passionate following.”

Speaking on his new avatar, Shania Pereira & Pearl Alex, creatives at Talented said: “Praggnanandhaa deserves to be portrayed as the force he is, but as never seen before: iconic, commanding, and unmistakably stylish. Those who noticed the Madras Checks in his wardrobe have correctly read them as a deliberate nod to Tamil Nadu - his roots, and the land that has given India so many grandmasters. Conceptualising a shoot like this meant stepping outside familiar territory, as chess has rarely been framed through an editorial lens. The fact that this avatar has surprised the internet as much as it has only means it was long overdue.”

Director duo, Akimbo (M G Bopanna & Mandakini) add, "In India, fame manifests in chaotic ways and we wanted to create small realistic vignettes of that with Praggnanandhaa. We worked closely on the script with Talented to try and achieve that. Thinking about the film vertical-first was a challenge for us. It changes variables ranging from cinematography to set design. And shooting with Praggnananda was a tick of the old bucketlist.”