‘I had fever, was not excessive on power’: R Praggnanandhaa after double medals at Chess Olympiad | Exclusive

NEW DELHI: In the open part of the 2026 Candidates Tournament, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was India’s sole consultant in Cyprus earlier this yr. He didn’t win the highest prize there. But the standard of chess he performed was unmistakably excessive.He has continued to keep up that customary at each match since, and the outcomes have merely adopted.Despite being final at one level at Norway Chess, he made a exceptional comeback, beating five-time world champion and world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen twice on his home soil to become the first Indian ever to lift that coveted title in June.More lately, he turned the primary Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour. Coming into the forty sixth Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, no person thus questioned his place as India’s Board 1 participant.And though he might handle solely three wins from his 10 video games throughout India’s silver-and-bronze marketing campaign, a tally that introduced him a person bronze medal too, there was by no means a scarcity of high quality on present from the 21-year-old Chennai-born grandmaster.“His rating (6.5/10) nonetheless did not utterly mirror the extent at which he performed. He created possibilities in nearly each sport, fairly a number of attracts which might have been wins. But the standard of his play was actually excessive,” captain Srinath Narayanan told TimesofIndia.com after the campaign. “It by no means regarded like Pragg was in peril of shedding. Even the couple of occasions he fought into barely worse positions, body-language-wise, he was the one pushing. His opponents had been those who had been a bit confused.”The Uzbekistan Olympiad, although, wasn’t a super one healthwise for a lot of the Indian contingent, and Pragg was amongst those that needed to battle it out whereas below the climate.

Fever, fatigue, and preventing by way of it

“I’m recovering,” he advised this web site, when requested if he was again to full well being after the gruelling match, which had just one relaxation day. “The previous few days I used to be having some chilly and somewhat fever as effectively sooner or later. So I wasn’t excessive on power in the direction of the top of the match. But it sort of acquired higher after the match ended. The previous few days have been higher. I’m additionally getting good sleep, so it is effective.”There was an apparent query about circumstances, meals, or the climate in Samarkand. Pragg waved most of that away. “I feel the circumstances had been extraordinarily good. The first day, we had somewhat inconvenience. But after that, the Uzbek Chess Federation organized a personal place for the Indian staff to have their very own dinner. We acquired the Indian meals from the AICF, due to AICF, and we might hold it on this place. Generally, I feel the general preparations after the primary day had been actually good, due to AICF and the Uzbek Federation as effectively.“So what was behind the string of sicknesses, if not the meals or the journey?“It was not an issue with any of these. I feel it is simply that one thing was perhaps spreading among the many gamers. I feel it began with somebody after which everybody in the direction of the top acquired it.” Asked if it was merely a viral fever making the rounds, he agreed. “Yeah, in all probability like viral fever that was spreading. I heard that even earlier than the match, in my space and stuff, there have been individuals who had been getting it. But we had been all effective within the first half of the match. It was primarily within the second half that this stuff began.”

It’s uncommon, he insisted, for it to meet up with him particularly. “In common, I attempt to not experiment an excessive amount of throughout a match. I’m going with my consolation meals. I do not do one thing that brings a chilly — even one thing like going out within the chilly can set off it. We additionally take medicines that often do not make you sleepy, so that you will be ready in such a approach. But usually, this stuff do not occur throughout a match. For me, I do not know when the final time was that I had a chilly throughout a match. I am unable to actually consider it. These issues are uncommon for all of the gamers. We’re usually in a position to keep away from this stuff, but it surely occurs in some tournaments. Sometimes it isn’t in your management.”

A private marketing campaign that learn higher than the scoreline

On the board, Pragg’s personal account of his Olympiad matched what his captain had already mentioned. “For me, I feel I performed effectively. Overall, the standard was okay. Most of the video games I used to be pushing, I used to be the one creating loads of possibilities. I feel the one two video games the place I used to be worse had been towards Anish (Giri) and Rapport (Richard) within the final sport. But it was just for a number of strikes. It’s not like I needed to defend for a very long time. It was just some strikes, after which the place modified. Either I used to be effective or I used to be taking on.”

Where it stung was within the video games he ought to have put away. “Given the probabilities I had, I might have, ought to have in all probability scored one or two wins extra. Some video games it was shocking how I missed. For instance, the match towards Spain, towards Anton, I missed a very successful place. That was sort of shocking to me as effectively. But this stuff occur in sports activities. Sometimes you exchange this stuff effortlessly, however typically you additionally miss these possibilities. It all occurs,” the 21-year-old GM remarked.

Where the gold went lacking

Zoom out to the staff image, and Pragg is unambiguous about the place the Olympiad was determined and at peace with the way it ended.“I feel silver is an effective end result. Obviously, after coming from a gold medal final yr and the way in which we gained gold, there was an expectation from everybody, additionally from the gamers, that you just’re coming from such a excessive and also you need to hold it. You need to win gold once more. Obviously, repeating that efficiency is troublesome, however you need to win gold once more. But there are different sturdy groups, so it isn’t going to be simple each time. I feel, in that approach, silver is an effective end result. Given how sturdy the Olympiad was and what number of shut matches we had, I feel silver is an effective end result,” Praggnanandhaa defined.One match, although, determined it.“Obviously, the vital match was towards Uzbekistan. I feel it’ll be the vital match in each Olympiad to return, as a result of we’re all sturdy gamers and we’re all younger, so there are going to be loads of Olympiads the place we’ll face one another. It’s going to be attention-grabbing. But clearly, that match was the vital one,” he mentioned.

Explaining what truly went unsuitable in it, he continued, “The Uzbek staff additionally knew this was going to be like a ultimate, as a result of whoever wins has a large benefit. One unlucky second (the queen blunder in Nihal Sarin’s game against Uzbekistan) for us price us the match, and this stuff occur in a match. But I felt general, in that match, we had been all enjoying effectively. Our sport high quality was actually good. All of us had been urgent sooner or later. We weren’t worse at any second. There had been no boards the place we had been in peril.“One blunder can occur at any stage of a match, to anybody. I can present each high participant blundering in some essential sport. It occurs, and it is unlucky that it occurred at this second. Obviously, it was troublesome for all of us, however I feel all of us stood as a staff. I feel we recovered from that.”Padel periods between video games, he added with fun, helped greater than folks may assume, “Yeah, I imply, particularly for Nihal, it was tougher, however I feel all of us managed to remain as a staff, and I feel all of us are recovered now.”

Candidates within the rearview, Clutch Chess forward

The Olympiad arrives roughly 5 months after Pragg’s personal marketing campaign on the Candidates in Cyprus fell wanting the international stage title shot, a end result that, by his personal admission, formed a lot of his yr.“It’s been good these previous few months. But clearly, I feel the essential match was the Candidates Tournament, which was a disappointment. After that, I felt my play has usually been good. I’ve been enjoying how I need to play. I’ve been having fun with enjoying the video games, and I feel it is also displaying within the outcomes.”Does the Candidates setback nonetheless linger? “Not an excessive amount of. I feel these outcomes do assist in getting out of it utterly. But after all, when you consider the longer term, Candidates is the primary factor.”For now, the schedule does not go away a lot room to dwell on it anyway. Pragg is already taking a look at his subsequent two stops: Clutch Chess within the US, beginning October 27, adopted by the Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot occasion in Budapest on November 10.A fever-interrupted Olympiad behind him, a title shot nonetheless unfinished industry forward, Praggnanandhaa feels his story has simply begun.