BENGALURU: On his way back from Oslo after winning Norway Chess, R Praggnanandhaa had an interesting encounter with one of the immigration officials at Frankfurt airport. As soon as the Indian approached the counter to pass through the gate, the official got up from his chair, came out and greeted the 21-year-old. "He wanted to know how to reach 1000 ELO rating points on chess dot com," an amused Pragg would later tell two journalists who bore witness to this episode.
It's been that kind of a year for the chess wizard from Chennai. On the evidence of Thursday, it seems set to continue. Two months after winning Norway Chess, he became the first Indian to win the prestigious Grand Chess Tour, an annual event where some of the best players gather to play a series of events across formats.
At the end of the regular tour, Pragg had qualified in first place for the four-man Grand Finals in St. Louis, US. After beating Vincent Keymer in the last four, Pragg was immediately on the back foot against Fabiano Caruana, one of the highest-rated GMs of all time.
The 34-year-old, the 2025 champion, had pocketed the first Classical game to lead the final 6-0. In the second Classical game, the Indian, with the white pieces, had chances to level the match but missed an opportunity in the endgame. With the match moving to the Rapid section, Caruana enjoyed a big 9-3 lead.
This was the state of play on Thursday morning, when the two players shook hands over the board. Making up a six-point deficit in a day is hard work, and that's even before you factor in the challenge of pushing for wins with the black pieces against one of the best players of all time. But that's exactly what the 21-year-old did; not like he had many choices. After reducing arrears to three points post a win with the white pieces, the Indian's very proactive approach with the black won him an advantage out of the opening. He again seized his chance to open a two-point lead before the Blitz section.
In a mad Blitz section, Caruana equalised the match score after winning the second of the four games. But Pragg, with the scores level at 12-12, forced the win with the white pieces. With the score at 14-12 with just one game remaining, the US GM had to win on demand for the final to go into overtime. But players, feeling the pressure and low on time, traded mistakes before signing truce after 50 moves. For Caruana, the truce was an opportunity missed. For Pragg, the truce saw him being crowned as champion.
27 days, over 50 games and over 70 hours of playing time: Pragg's August
When the Indian departed for the US at the end of last month, he didn't know how much to pack. He was going there for Rapid and Blitz section as well as the Sinquefield Cup but he would only be staying back for the four-man GCT final provided he did well in the first of the two above-mentioned events.
"He was optimistic when he left for the first of those events," Vaibhav Suri, Pragg's coach, tells this daily. "But this has not been easy. He has been out playing competitive chess for almost a month. I remember seeing a stat somewhere that he has played over 60-65 hours of competitive chess. You also add in a similar amount of prep time, something people don't do. That's a lot of hours."
Pragg's August began on the very second day when he had to play three games against Leinier Dominguez, Caruana and Levon Aronian. Since that day, he has played over 50 competitive games of chess across formats.
What was the discussion between coach and player heading into the two Rapid games against Caruana on Thursday? "We have pretty much been talking everyday," Suri says. "The situation wasn't that easy. Our approach was fairly clear, at least from our perspective. We just wanted to put pressure on Fabi as early as possible and also be ahead of the clock, if possible. Subsequently, you try to take chances. The two Rapid games transpired, I would say, exactly the way we wanted. It's very hard to get these situations against somebody of Fabi's calibre. The way Pragg played both those Rapid games, he managed to put consistent pressure on the position and the clock. His decisions were very efficient and fairly practical. That sort of changed the tone for the match."
When asked to elaborate, the GM broke it down further. "I wil try to put this in the most non-technical way. Pragg did a very good job of making Fabi play against himself because a lot of the mistakes he made were self-inflicted. I think he did a very good job of making Fabi make these mistakes and that's what we wanted as well."
When asked to comment on his ward's overall playing time, Suri was even more intimate. "A whole month where you are just not passively consuming information but you are also trying to make decisions which have very real consequences. For your standings, for the outcome... so your nervous system is, in a sense, constantly under pressure. Fatigue will build up and there are a lot of things happening inside the head of a chess player of their calibre. The interesting thing for me was how well Pragg managed to maintain his level. There were some mistakes but he really maintained his standards and level of play, and that's always acceptable."
The now customary tradition of coach and player enjoying a sweet post-win will have to wait, though. "Not yet," Suri said. "I'm seeing him after two weeks. Maybe then."
That sweet will be well earned.
Pragg's August
August 2: Three Rapid matches
August 3: Three Rapid matches
August 4: Three Rapid matches
August 5: Nine Blitz matches
August 6: Nine Blitz matches
From August 10 to August 14: One Classical game a day (five games in total)
From August 16 to August 19: One Classical game a day (four games in total)
August 20: Two tie-breaks and one Armageddon
August 22: One Classical game (GCT semi)
August 23: One Classical game (GCT semi)
August 24: Two Rapid and Four Blitz games (GCT semi)
August 25: One Classical game (GCT final)
August 26: One Classical game (GCT final)
August 27: Two Rapid and four Blitz (GCT final)
