OSLO: It's great when sportspersons talk about processes. Methods. It's a rare peek into their rarified air where only excellence is allowed. Sometimes, it's better when sportspersons allow themselves to be vulnerable in the company of travelling scribes. It's a glimpse into the life of an elite athlete, someone who left school to chase greatness as a child.
Before the ninth round at Norway Chess, R Praggnanandhaa, once the world's youngest IM, is pouring his heart out. In a very candid interview, something very rare by the standards of Indian sportspersons, the 20-year-old admits to burn out because of a very punishing 2025. Before that, he also concedes that he would have liked some school or college friends to hang out with whenever he's in Chennai. But he has none.
"I would have loved to have some school or college friends (in Chennai)," the World No. 14 says. "But you have to give (up) certain things (to achieve certain things)." While he doesn't regret it — he admits that if had a normal childhood, he wouldn't be where he is — the yearning is hard to miss. It's basically a look into the somewhat lonely life of an elite chess player.
In a wild two month period in the middle of 2025, he played tournaments in France, Poland, Romania, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Croatia. Spanning multiple formats and in different continents, the then teen willed himself to complete this crazy schedule, in part, to qualify for the Candidates again. Post this mad two month sequence, he went to both North America as well as South America over the next few months, sandwiched by a tournament in Asia.
Mentally, he was exhausted. "Even if you have the physical energy, you don't have the mental energy to keep doing the same thing at every tournament," he says. The same routine, the same patterns... It gets tiring. It becomes automatic, you just don't enjoy it anymore."
That punishing journey eventually was rewarded as he qualified for the Candidates but it ultimately ended in disappointment. "I just want to play chess and chill (now). I don't want to think about the next two-year cycle."