Speed demon Nihal turns to Prasanna, Gukesh's former coach, to become Classical ace
He's one of the best in the world in the quickest time controls but it can come in the way of his Classical preparation. It's kind of why Sarin, who became a GM a month after turning 14 in August 2018, approached Vishnu Prasanna at the back end of last year.
Prasanna, one of several super coaches from this part of the country, considered Sarin's request before saying 'yes'. "We met at Global Chess League (GCL) last year," Prasanna, who worked with D Gukesh for a long time, said. "I have been working with him since March and we have had decent results. Right now, we are looking to see what we can do at the World Cup, Grand Swiss and generally get his ratings (in Classical) higher. That is my main goal."
While Gukesh, 19, Arjun Erigaisi, 21, and R Praggnanandhaa, 19, have added more bows to their Classical quiver, it's perhaps fair to say that their compatriot has slightly fallen behind in the game's oldest format. The 21-year-old, whose Classical rating is 2692, is 'stagnating for a while', according to Prasanna.
Considering ratings alone, it's easy to make that case. Most other Indian players have breached that 2700-mark, a milestone considered elite territory. 'I think he's very good at other formats," Prasanna said. "Like eSports and online chess. He doesn't really need my expertise there. He's already at the top. We came up with some ideas for the eSports World Cup and it worked well, especially in the qualification stage."
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