The 14th spherical of the 2024 Candidates Match in Toronto was an absolute stress cooker. For Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and D. Gukesh, it was a day of future the place considered one of these 4 males would earn the best to problem for the world title.
For others, the combat had already ended. Vidit Gujrathi and Alireza Firouzja, drained by the gruelling occasion, noticed little level in additional exertion.
His opponent was Nijat Abasov, and the end result wouldn’t change the standings on the prime. He was out of the title race and was only a peripheral determine on a day destined to belong to Gukesh, who would grow to be the youngest-ever Candidates winner and later the youngest world chess champion in historical past.
However Pragg did what he had at all times accomplished and performed for a consequence. And when he left Toronto, he carried with him a full level from the ultimate spherical, a small reward, maybe, however it was validation to a mindset that refuses to concede even a single battle, even when the struggle is already misplaced. Come 2026, it’s that very resolve he’ll now carry into his second Candidates match, however this time as India’s sole standard-bearer.
Praggnanandhaa in motion in opposition to Gukesh. (Picture credit score: FIDE Michal Walusza)
What lies forward for him is a golden alternative and with it, the load of a historic all-Indian world championship closing, ought to he handle to win arguably the hardest occasion in chess.
Having already performed within the Candidates and been a FIDE World Cup finalist as a young person, Praggnanandhaa is a confirmed commodity. There’s additionally a sure calm confidence to him. Not like Gukesh, whose meteoric highs have eclipsed Pragg’s however whose lows have additionally been much more precipitous, he has constructed his sport on a unique basis. His most dependable weapon is his capacity to minimise harm.
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Early in his profession, Pragg was by no means actually within the race for scores. Through the COVID-19 break in 2020, Pragg, led by his coach RB Ramesh, ventured into unfamiliar terrain. Whereas his friends had been persevering with to rack up scores by means of open tournaments and climbing the rankings quickly, Pragg spent his time competing in opposition to the world’s finest in elite on-line occasions. Common participation in competitions just like the Julius Baer Era Cup, the Champions Chess Tour, and later the Grand Chess Tour meant that the Chennai lad had amassed a wealth of expertise enjoying in opposition to top-tier opposition for practically half a decade by the age of 20.
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Although he nonetheless belongs to a ‘younger era’ of chess, Praggnanandhaa is actually not afraid of anybody. Whereas he doesn’t view the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Caruana, or Nakamura as belonging to a superior era, his philosophy has been to play the sport and never the status.
“Once I play them, I simply see them as one other participant who’s very robust,” Pragg as soon as informed The Indian Categorical.
He added that his strategy doesn’t change primarily based on the opponent’s stature. “I see each participant as the identical. I attempt to put together in a means that may go well with me after I’m enjoying them. Taking part in Magnus is a little more particular as a result of he’s clearly the strongest participant now. But when I play, let’s say, Fabi or Arjun (Erigaisi), I don’t assume it might matter. For me, I’m enjoying one other robust participant, and I simply need to give my finest.”
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The numbers from the previous couple of months don’t make for fairly studying. A middling sixth-place end in each the speedy and blitz at Tata Metal Chess India was adopted by a gruelling Wijk aan Zee, the place Pragg managed only a single win throughout 13 classical rounds.
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So latest type is clearly not one thing Pragg can draw confidence from. However each these occasions, in Kolkata and the Netherlands, got here in opposition to the backdrop of the teen enjoying continuous chess for the final 14 months.
Praggnanandhaa in motion in opposition to Gukesh. (Picture credit score: FIDE Maria Emelianova)
It took a heavy toll on him. Whereas the technique to simply spam each occasion helped him safe his place on the Cyprus occasion by means of the FIDE Circuit ranking of 2025, in return, it took a success on the standard of his sport.
That’s the place his crew stepped in and deliberate his schedule in a means that gave him a much-needed break earlier than the Candidates. A two-month break is likely one of the longest stretches Pragg has spent away from the board in a very long time, however this offers him the time wanted to clear the psychological fog earlier than a match that may check each fibre of his endurance.
And now, whereas the load of expectations is a heavy coat to put on at 20, Pragg doesn’t must look too far past his pal Gukesh, who turned a monk to meditate his option to the crowning jewel. As he prepares to stroll that path in Cyprus, it’s time for Pragg so as to add his personal chapter to the legacy of the Madras Tiger and the pal who beat him to it.