Praggnanandhaa interview: ‘I don't think I'm trying to prove anything to anyone. I just like playing chess'
R Praggnanandhaa is on the hottest streak of his career. The UzChess Cup is the third title of 2025 he has claimed after the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee and the Superbet Chess Classic Romania. Remarkably, in all three classical tournaments, he won through tiebreaks, under faster time controls.
In a freewheeling interview with The Indian Express, Praggnanandhaa talks about 'feeling dead' in the middle of the tournament, earning the respect of the older generation like Magnus Carlsen, and why winning the Wijk aan Zee event was crucial for his season and more. Excerpts:
The UzChess Cup is the third tournament you have won this year besides ending second via tiebreaks in a 4th event. What is the secret of your success in 2025?
Praggnanandhaa: I don't think there is a secret ingredient. It's just about keeping on fighting in every game. The main thing is the mental aspect. I'm much more confident and ambitious than last year. In this tournament, for example, I had to win the last two games to have any chance of winning the tournament and I was playing Arjun (Erigaisi) and Nodirbek (Abdusattorov), who are two of the strongest players right now. I still managed to win which required a lot of mental effort. I'm happy that it's showing on the board.
What changed that gave you this confidence and ambition?
Praggnanandhaa: Winning Wijk aan Zee was very important, it gave me a lot of confidence, especially those three wins I had (in a row) to catch (D) Gukesh in the tournament lead. I took confidence from that. This year I believe in myself; I can win tournaments. Only when you win the first tournament, you can actually show yourself that you can do it.
Given how strong many Indians are, tournament organisers have to make tough calls to leave out someone. Last year, Arjun was not getting invitations. This year, we didn't see you at Norway Chess. Was this title your way of proving to the world that you're among the best?
Praggnanandhaa: I don't think I'm trying to prove anything to anyone. I just like playing chess and I want to be the best at what I'm doing.
You spoke about the mental aspect. But there is also a physical aspect to playing the sport, especially when you play so much
Praggnanandhaa: I'm not able to work out as I would like to because of back-to-back tournaments. During the UzChess Cup, I could feel that I was not at my usual energy level, as early as round two. I was trying to save my energy by doing less prep. That helped me. That's one of the reasons why I lost two games in the middle. At some point I just couldn't play. I was completely dead at some point. Just wanted to rest. But you don't get that (luxury) in the middle of the tournament, so you keep fighting.
So what does the rest of your year look like and how do you manage the finances?
Praggnanandhaa: I'll be playing in Zagreb in four days. Then I'll play in Freestyle Las Vegas, then Last Chance Qualifiers for the Esports World Cup, Grand Chess Tour tournaments, mainly Sinquefield Cup. There'll also be the Grand Swiss and FIDE World Cup. It'll be a tightly-packed schedule. Thanks to the Adani Group, I've been able to manage everything, especially last year, when there was a Candidates tournament, which required a whole team and in-person camps. These things need massive financial support. Another thing is that they were always there for me during my lows, offering support.
How would you compare your approach in 2024 and 2025 seasons?
Praggnanandhaa: This year we did small experiments. Trying to play fast in a few games and then trying to play normally. Or trying to do more prep before games and then less prep. We did try these things to see which ones actually suited me.
READ MORE | RB Ramesh explains Praggnanandhaa's 2025 success: Playing 'risky' chess, more variety of openings and more
In four tournaments this year, you have fought your way through tiebreaks, winning three of them. How easy is it for you to make that adjustment at the last moment when you are playing classical, and then have to switch to a faster time control hours later?
Praggnanandhaa: First of all, I don't want to win tournaments on tiebreaks. I want to win straight up. But it is so happening that I had to play three tiebreaks to win the tournaments. It is challenging to change your mindset, it is challenging to play immediately after you have just played a classical game. But you know, when you are at the board, you just have to give your best. I just realised that in all three cases, I did a different result in the final classical game. In Wijk aan Zee, I lost my last classical game and then played a tiebreak. In Bucharest, I made a draw and then a tiebreak. Here in UzChess, I won and played a tiebreak. So there were three different emotions coming into the tiebreak. At the end of the day, it's just about being calm.
After Norway Chess, we heard comments from Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana that they didn't think the young generation was ready to take over yet. Caruana even said that playing against you guys was not 'scary' yet. What do you feel about that?
Praggnanandhaa: When people say 'take over', it's not clear what exactly it means. Because Gukesh is the world champion. If you see, I just won three tournaments, Vincent Keymer won the Freestyle Chess event in Weissenhaus in brilliant style. Arjun crossed 2800 rating. Nodirbek (Abdusattorov) was also close in a lot of tournaments. So we have won some important tournaments where others were playing, but that doesn't mean that we are better than them. They're also very strong. I don't see them (Carlsen, Nakamura and Caruana) as players from a different generation. When I play them, I just see them as another player who's very strong. I'm not sure we should really compare generations. They are really good, Magnus has dominated everything. Fabi also is like the third highest rated player (in history). What they say, I think is true to some extent, because I don't think we are better than them. If you see as a generation, we do give equal fight and we are fighting on equal terms. But I think we are also improving. It could change in some time.
When you play them, has your mindset also kind of changed? Let's say you're facing Magnus tomorrow, do you approach the game slightly differently?
Praggnanandhaa: No, I don't think so. I see every player as the same. I try to prepare in a way that would suit me when I'm playing them. I think that's what everyone does. Playing Magnus is a bit more special because he's clearly the strongest player now. But if I play let's say Fabi or Arjun, I don't think it would matter. Like for me, I'm playing another strong player and I just want to give my best. In terms of my prep, let's say like one or two years back, I would still do the same (as I prepare now to face these strong players). But compared to two years back, I know I can beat these players because I've done it. So that gives me confidence. But how I approach the game still remains the same.
READ MORE | Four tiebreaks, three titles: Story of Praggnanandhaa's barnstorming 2025
Do you see the senior players taking fewer risks than they were when playing you two years ago?
Praggnanandhaa: Yeah, I think we have got that respect now that we are strong. We are also strong players and we can play on equal terms. For sure, they don't take massive risks as earlier but still Magnus is an exception. He does take a lot of risks against anyone. So it doesn't matter.
There was this joke about Indian chess that the toughest position in chess to hang on to is India number one. What do you have to say about that since you are India number one?
Praggnanandhaa: This India number one can change every game. I don't think it matters who's India number one right now. I don't think it really matters. For me more than being India number one, it's about winning this tournament that makes me happier. Of course, rating does matter.
What are the chances that when the next World Championship happens, we see an Indian player competing against Gukesh?
Praggnanandhaa: I'm hoping for it. I'm trying to give my best. There are a lot of strong players. You have to keep giving your best and see how it goes. We also have Arjun and Aravindh at the top. So we have good chances.
Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
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