On Wednesday, after Magnus Carlsen had overpowered Viswanathan Anand in a conflict of former world champions and propelled his group, SG Alpine Warriors, to the highest of the World Chess League standings, the Norwegian was requested by GM Tania Sachdev within the post-match broadcast what set the Warriors aside from the opposite groups.
“Nicely, we now have this one man (Praggnanandhaa R) who wins each single recreation. That kinda helps… Pragg has been absolutely the star. Not solely the truth that he wins video games, however the best way he wins them. It looks like he wins with class,” mentioned the world no 1.
Over the course of the league stage of the GCL, the 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa has scythed by means of his opponents, dropping none of his 10 video games. Seven of these have been victories, whereas two of the three attracts got here on Saturday (first in opposition to Nihal Sarin after which in opposition to Javokhir Sindarov) because the Warriors slipped out of rivalry for the ultimate.
For the proficient teenager, the GCL has been as a lot of a possibility to point out off his ‘class’ because it has been the possibility to choose the brains of teammate Carlsen.
He remembers how he exchanged gleeful texts with Warriors teammates Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi after they discovered they’d be in Carlsen’s group. “We’re all so glad to have the fortune of being in the identical group as Magnus,” he informed The Indian Specific earlier within the week.
Praggnanandhaa is likely one of the uncommon Indians to have managed to beat Carlsen, however the intimidating aura of the Norwegian endures.
On the GCL in Dubai, the trio of Indian teenagers have managed to see the opposite facet of him. The quartet — Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Arjun and Carlsen — are learnt to be enjoying coaching video games on the sidelines of the GCL and likewise spending hours over meals discussing the nuances of the game.
“Carlsen’s only a actually pleasant particular person. For us to debate chess with him is a good expertise. We have now been enjoying some coaching video games with him. We usually speak about totally different positions, we speak about totally different video games. Simply to understand how he thinks, how his thoughts actually works, what are his first intuitive strikes in numerous positions is only a nice expertise for all of us. I used to be all the time interested in this stuff, and right here I managed to get a glimpse of them. In some positions, his understanding may simply be method too sturdy than how we predict,” mentioned {the teenager}.
On the GCL, all six boards are held on the identical second with a row of over 20 cameras skilled on gamers monitoring their each transfer. For a few of the kids, this has led to added stress. Praggnanandhaa, nevertheless, shrugged off any discuss of him being daunted by the elevated consideration.
“I’d say sure there’s some stress. Each transfer, each recreation issues. Due to the scoring system, whenever you play with white it’s important to be extra cautious. In case you lose, you give away 4 factors. And then you definitely even have to take a look at how your teammates are doing earlier than deciding (the destiny of your personal recreation). However I’d see this as a studying alternative. Sooner or later, I feel there shall be much more tournaments with much more stress,” he mentioned nonchalantly.