Within the span of eight months, the variety of Indians who’ve defeated the world’s greatest chess participant, Magnus Carlsen, has swelled from two to 5. Earlier than 2022, solely Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna had achieved the duty of outwitting the reigning five-time world champion. Now, the teenager trio of R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and D Gukesh may also lay declare to that feat.
Praggnanandhaa, 17, has defeated the Norwegian thrice; Erigaisi, 19, and Gukesh, 16, notched up their maiden victories over the world champion on the Aimchess Speedy match in October. By doing so, they supplied probably the most resounding proof of their readiness to problem the world’s prime gamers.
“I feel the importance [of the results] is for his or her self-confidence,” Anand, who has had many intriguing battles with Carlsen, mentioned. “They’ve seen that even towards one of the best participant on the planet, somebody towards whom it is extremely tough to grab a degree, they’ll do it. That’s the constructive message they need to take away. It doesn’t matter if it’s fast chess or the rest. It’s simply as laborious to beat him in fast as in some other time management.”
Whereas an intrinsic aptitude for chess is a standard issue serving to them test vital milestones of their teenagers, there are delicate variations within the enjoying kinds of the three younger gamers, and their preferences in assault and defence make for an attention-grabbing comparability.
So, which format do they like probably the most? What are their go-to opening strikes? How do they deal with stress in an endgame with the clock ticking down?
Favorite codecs
“Gukesh has been very targeted on classical chess. It’s clearly his prime precedence. He solely performs these fast (10 minutes to 60 minutes) and blitz occasions (lower than 10 minutes) if they don’t conflict with commitments in classical occasions,” mentioned Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan, who was the coach of the India A group that completed fourth on the forty fourth Chess Olympiad in Mahabalipuram in August.
“Praggnanandhaa, alternatively, has been standard primarily due to his exploits within the Champions Chess Tour, which is a web based fast match. I feel Praggnanandhaa hasn’t performed as many classical video games as the opposite two. To this point, he has achieved significantly better on this format than in classical.” Srinath added that he believes “it is just a matter of time” earlier than Praggnanandhaa begins doing effectively in classical chess too.
So far as codecs go, Erigaisi doesn’t appear to have a transparent favorite. “Arjun has been balanced. He’s been enjoying quite a lot of classical chess and has been energetic and constant in all of the completely different on-line fast tournaments. He’s a bit extra balanced comparatively,” Srinath mentioned.
That is evident from the ELO scores of those three gamers within the classical format. Whereas Gukesh and Erigaisi crossed the hallowed mark of 2700 earlier this yr, Praggnanandhaa’s ranking is 2678.
Completely different kinds
Anand believes that the kinds of the three gamers are continually evolving. “There are small variations. Arjun is the closest to a common fashion, whereas Pragg and Gukesh lean closely in direction of aggressive positions. Arjun might be probably the most positional of the lot. He likes enjoying a mix of quiet positions and aggressive strikes. However they’re all engaged on all elements,” mentioned Anand.
Srinath cites Gukesh’s latest victory over Carlsen, in 29 strikes, to underline the participant’s largest power. It appeared as if the Norwegian was on his method to a routine win 25 strikes into the sport, solely to stumble right into a cleverly-laid lure for his queen.
“By way of technical elements, I feel Gukesh is extremely resourceful. That’s his USP,” mentioned Srinath. “He’s excellent at detecting quite a lot of issues that escape the attention of others. You noticed that occur with Magnus as effectively. He was doing rather well within the sport towards Gukesh. Magnus ignored that his queen was getting trapped. It was sport over for him after that. It would appear to be luck, however it’s not.”
Srinath places this trait all the way down to Gukesh’s formative coaching. “He religiously stayed away from engines (within the preliminary years). That in all probability educated him in getting an perception into what could be tough for people even when it isn’t among the many prime strikes beneficial by engines. He throws opponents off-guard. It isn’t simple to grasp Gukesh’s strikes as simply as these of different prime gamers.”
Praggnanandhaa, too, was saved largely away from engines throughout his childhood by coach RB Ramesh. Based on V Saravanan, an Worldwide Grasp from Chennai, Praggnanandhaa’s sport is all about dynamism.
“Pragg doesn’t trouble a lot about materials. He goes for exercise. His play includes a bit little bit of playing,” mentioned Saravanan, providing Praggnanandhaa’s sport towards Pranav Anand, one other teen Grandmaster, within the just lately concluded Asian championship and his maiden victory over Carlsen as examples.
“When the place grew to become equal, the sport appeared prone to finish in a draw if it went on in a traditional means. Pragg didn’t even bat an eyelid earlier than sacrificing a pawn and going for exercise. Most of his compensations are dynamic in nature. The very first time he beat Carlsen in blitz, that’s what he did. He went for a really dynamic place. After all, Carlsen blundered and misplaced the sport.”
One other characteristic of Praggnanandhaa’s sport is his unflappable temperament . India’s match towards Azerbaijan on the forty fourth Chess Olympiad in August is a living proof.
“What has stood out just lately is his unimaginable calmness in essential conditions underneath time stress,” noticed Srinath. “There was this sport within the Olympiad towards Azerbaijan the place the match was fairly balanced. If Pragg didn’t win that sport, India’s medal possibilities have been achieved. They have been down 1-2 and the place was unhealthy for Pragg. Whereas the opponent was tense and animated, Pragg was simply utterly calm and managed to outplay his opponent in a essential second. It was an important second in India B successful a bronze medal.”
Saravanan considers Erigaisi to be “nearly diametrically reverse” to Praggnanandhaa.
“Arjun is principally a positional participant. He retains his items on the proper place. He performs appropriate chess. He sticks to rules. There may be typically not a single piece misplaced…that sort of fashion. He’s in all probability one of the best among the many three when it comes to calculation.”
Openings and finish video games
Chess gamers normally dedicate in depth time to completely different opening preparations, understanding that it lays the inspiration that always dictates how a sport pans out. You might be a grasp at wriggling out of advanced conditions within the endgame, however it counts for little in a sport between gamers of equal power if the opening isn’t as much as scratch.
“One factor I can say is Pragg goes for sharp openings,” famous Saravanan. “In a dynamic opening, you retain the place open however inside your management. That’s what Gukesh and Erigaisi do. Pragg goes for hand-to-hand fight straightaway. It means it may be hit or miss. For instance, there’s the Sicilian Najdorf, which is a particularly tactical opening. You can not play by common intuition or understanding in such openings. It’s important to calculate like a machine.”
Typically, although, the younger crop of Indian GMs isn’t fixated on a specific opening system. That maybe units these gamers aside from the likes of Anand, Harikrishna and Vidit Gujrathi, who would look to grasp one system earlier than making an attempt one other.
All of them, in accordance with Srinath, have work to do on the endgame although.
“Everybody can get higher on this facet. Typically, a lot consideration is given to openings and center video games. Since they’re fairly younger, they merely haven’t seen as many positions as somebody older on the prime stage,” he mentioned.
Over the subsequent few years, as they proceed to evolve, their particular strategies and preferences are topic to alter. So long as they’re able to maximise their potential although, Indians who get pleasure from their chess can sit again and relish what every of the three has to supply.