GM R Praggnanandhaa was felicitated by Dwaraka Doss Goverdhan Doss Vaishnav College (Autonomous) for bringing pride to the college through his outstanding performance at the Norway Chess Championship.
Athletes from the college were also felicitated for winning the prestigious University of Madras Dr. Sivanthi Adityan Rolling Trophy for three consecutive years. Praggnanandhaa, who is pursuing BBA, extended his gratitude to sports secretary, principal, and the physical education directors for being his strong pillars of support.
N Srinath, captain of the India Chess Olympiad team, bats for India along with his ace Pragg. “All the players have been playing some tournament or the other. D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi played the Chennai Grand Masters tournament. While Arjun did fairly well, Gukesh did not play to his potential, but it happens to the best in the business. I am sure he will do well in the Olympiad. We will certainly go all out to defend the crown,” said Srinath.
Grandmaster Srinath also pointed out that Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov played the Chennai GM tournament against the India players. “Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov would have a good experience playing and watching Gukesh and Arjun in the Chennai GM chess. Gukesh’s challenger Javokhir Sindarov is also part of the Uzbek team, so I feel the Olympiad will be exciting and our players relish challenges,” pointed out Srinath. “It’s been a bit of up and down (for Gukesh). There are not going to be teams with all 2750s and 2700s on all four boards, except one or two teams. As a coach, it will be my duty to see that they give their best on a given day,” he added.
Srinath expects the experienced trio of Gukesh, Arjun, and Pragg to lead by example. He says that Arjun’s strength is that he is a fast player and calculative. “He has excellent opening preparation.” He remarks that Gukesh’s strength is his brilliant confidence. “We’ll see Gukesh back to his best in no time.” He continues, “Pragg is slightly different. He is more solid than the others. They all have risk-taking ability and they are all fearless to a certain extent,” opined Srinath.