Bengaluru: R Praggnanandhaa has been swept up in his sister Vaishali becoming the newly-minted Women’s Candidates winner, while still processing his own underwhelming performance in the tournament – just one win from 14 rounds.
“Certainly, at some point something went wrong,” Praggnanandhaa told HT in an interview. “I think my first game was really good. My mind was working decently. I was seeing a lot of things. But somehow, the results didn’t show that. I haven’t had much time to reflect on it. Also, after a certain point, every game felt like a must-win because someone was just running away with it. I think that probably also created a lot of mistakes in the tournament in general.”
“I think sometimes things have to work out a certain way in a tournament like the Candidates. A lot of these players have won plenty of top-level events, but the Candidates is just different. It’s hard to say exactly what it takes to win. Everyone prepares as best as they can, and everyone wants to win the tournament. But there are little things – like someone perhaps wanting it more than the others.”
The 20-year-old Indian believes his loss to eventual Candidates tournament winner Javokhir Sindarov in Round 3 was the turning point of the tournament. Sindarov has also spoken of his two wins against Praggnanandhaa in the Candidates being crucial. They have both been rivals, playing against each other since they were kids, with Praggnanandhaa holding more wins against the Uzbek.
“I think our Round 3 game was certainly one of the most important games of the tournament, because from then on, no one could really stop Javokhir. He started to play at a different level,” Sindarov finished with the highest number of wins – six – at the Candidates, since 2013.
Praggnanandhaa’s second, Vaibhav Suri, would typically accompany him to the playing hall on game days before hitting the gym and then returning to his hotel room, switching between silent livestreams of games and trying to pick up body language cues.
“After Sindarov’s first win against Pragg, you could clearly notice a change in his confidence. The momentum carried forward. But I wouldn’t really say that Sindarov’s preparation stood out, because much of what he was playing, I am fairly certain, other players were also familiar with. It was more about his ability to recollect and recognize patterns, and these things do play a big role,” he told HT.
In an interview with HT in 2024, world No 1 Magnus Carlsen had wagered that Ding Liren might very well be the last player from his generation to win the world title. So far, he seems to be right on the money. The last World Championship was won by an 18-year-old and the next World Championship is going to be between two 20-year-olds.
Praggnanandhaa finds Gukesh being seen as the underdog against Sindarov in their World Championship match amusing. “It’s at least six months to the match. I expect Gukesh to be back in form before that. I’m rooting for him, there’s no question about it. Of course, as a fan, I would like to see some exciting and interesting games.”
“If you think about it, my generation has pretty much won most major titles in chess. Gukesh and Javokhir have won the Candidates,” said Praggnanandhaa. “Gukesh has of course won the world title. Javokhir won the World Cup. Nodirbek and I have won Wijk aan Zee. Vincent is doing well in Freestyle. If we’re talking dominance, I suppose my generation is already here.”
While it was a tough second Candidates appearance for Praggnanandhaa, his sister’s win may have somewhat mitigated his disappointment with his own performance.
“When there’s a player taking a big lead in a tournament where only the first-place matters, your hopes take a beating. Both as player and as a person, Pragg has this not-giving-up mentality. Irrespective of whether he is fighting for the first place or not, he is fighting in every single game, which was evident in the last couple of rounds where he didn’t even have a chance. He does not give up that easily, it keeps other people also around him fairly motivated,” Vaibhav pointed out.
While they are still reviewing and understanding the learnings from the tournament, Vaishali winning the Candidates may have sparked something in Praggnanandhaa, he believes.
“When your sibling has such a huge win, it certainly inspires and ignites something within you.”
