'Losses are tough, but I'm more upset when I don't play well': R Praggnanandhaa

Q. You’ve had a great 2025, winning three tournaments, beating Carlsen twice in just the first half. What have you done differently this year? 

Nothing special. I’ve just been believing in myself and trying to win every game I play. Being more ambitious is the key. Which means playing a solid game, trying to push till the end, trying to play for tournament victories. 

Q. You did that really well this year, starting with the Tata Steel Masters, where you defeated world champion D Gukesh in the final and became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2006 to win the prestigious title. 

Yes, the first half of the year has gone well. The win at the Tata Steel Masters was quite important. But more than the wins, it’s important for me that I play well. And I’m happy with the quality of my game. 

Q. In your career, you’ve beaten Magnus Carlsen multiple times across formats. How do you prepare for high-stakes games against top-rated opponents like him?

Doing something different for a particular opponent will show that you are taking that particular game more seriously. It’s not a good thing. My process for every opponent, as for Carlsen, remains the same.

As far as Magnus goes, I’ve also had some losses against him, so it’s not like I beat him all the time. In the Las Vegas freestyle tournament, I won the game [against Magnus] in the round robin stage but lost the classification round 3-1 despite winning the first game.  

Q. How do you turn around from losses, especially close matches like the one against Fabiano Caruana in the freestyle tournament, where you lost in an Armageddon tie-breaker (a final do-or-die tie-breaker following a series of draws) after tied at 3-3? 

It is difficult to have losses, but more important for me is whether I played well or not. For example, at this match against Fabian, we played for 10 hours and then I lost. But I was happy with how I played. It's unpleasant to lose, but if you can fight like that and push the game till the end, where it’s a toss-up like Armageddon tie-breaker where anyone can win, I’m not too worried when I lose these matches. You can’t really do much if you played well, but your opponent played even better. I’m more upset when I don’t play well. 

Q. In chess, the bruises of such a match are internal and not visible to an outsider, like in, say, football or tennis. Can you describe what it takes? 

I play so many tournaments and, at some point, you are just so tired. For example, at the Tata Steel Masters also, towards the end, I was completely exhausted. I had played a six-hour game before I went into the tie-break against Gukesh in the final. As the match was rolling towards the tie-break, I was completely gone, and when I won I was just so tired that I didn’t even realise I had won the tournament. The only thing I wanted to do was to go back to the room as soon as possible. But this is where being ambitious and motivated works, where you manage to push yourself beyond limits. And, I’m not going to complain about the exhaustion, since every player, and not just me, goes through these gruelling matches.  

Also read: India's time in chess has arrived: Viswanathan Anand

Q. Chess is now being dominated by India. You, Gukesh and Arjun [Erigaisi] are in the top 10, you are the junior World No 1. The world champion is an Indian, so is the women’s World Cup winner. What are the factors that have contributed to the rise of Indians in chess?

First is the inspiration we get from Anand sir. We all look up to him. After that, we have a good system in India with continuous tournaments where you can sharpen your game. A lot of the earlier grandmasters have turned trainers, so training has gone up by a level. We are also getting support from the government, and corporates are coming into the game. Adani Sportsline has come forward to support me, which is essential because training can be financially hard. Last, with so many good players, we push each other—when one does well, the others get inspired. We are all growing together and getting to the top. 

Q. You’ve been mentored by Anand. How has that impacted your game?

I won’t go into the specifics of the discussions that we’ve had, but we do discuss a lot, like about openings. I haven’t had a chat with him lately because I’ve been playing so many tournaments. But it’s great to have him analyse my game and I’ve played a lot of training games with him. The thing about Anand sir that inspires me a lot is his passion—despite being a five-time world champion, he is still willing to play training games with us and analyse our games. 

Q. You, Arjun and Gukesh are breathing down each other’s necks in the top 10. What sort of dynamics do you share? 

We get inspired by one another—that’s one of the things about healthy competition. If there’s no competition, you don’t really push yourself. Off the board, we are all normal guys, but when we play, we fight each other and try to beat each other.  

Q. Are you guys friends off the board?

I’m much closer to Arjun. I usually meet Gukesh in tournaments. Although, when I meet up with Arjun off the board, chess still is one of the main topics. There’s always so much to talk about in chess. But, again, when we play, it’s a completely different story. 

Q. Your last two victories over Carlsen came in the freestyle tournament, a dynamic and unpredictable playing format that is fast gaining popularity. Do you see it overtaking the classical format in future? 

I'm not sure if freestyle will overtake classical, but, personally, I really enjoy playing freestyle. Even though if you look at my results, you will see I haven’t done that well—I finished 9th in the first freestyle event and 7th in this one, although I played much better in this tournament and felt 7th was less than what I deserved.

Having said that, classical is still the main, and my goal for this year is to make it to the Candidates and then hopefully win the world championship. I do enjoy freestyle, but it’s not my priority.  

Q. It’s a bit like the Tests vs T20 debate in cricket.

That, and more. In chess, aside from classical and freestyle, there’s already rapid, blitz. There are a lot of formats and tournaments to play.  

Slideshow: How Gukush Dommaraju became world's youngest chess champ

Q. This was the first time online chess was introduced in the esports world cup. 

That's one thing I'm quite excited about. I didn’t really understand what it was when it was announced. But once I played it, for Team Liquid and alongside Magnus and Fabbi, I realised it was very exciting. It’s different from how we usually play because there are live audiences and there’s loud commentary going on, so you have to wear headphones. But it’s something I could work on. I’m looking forward to next year.

Q. You have a grandmaster sibling at home. How do you draw from each other? Who beats whom in a Vaishali vs Pragg match?

We don't really play a lot of games anymore, so it’s more about discussion and sharing ideas. We have sibling fights like everyone else, but when it comes to chess, we are dead serious. We are also a bit different in terms of our game. I am a bit more inclined towards technical play—even though I feel I am good at everything—while she is someone who enjoys attacking. I was like her when I was growing up, but I have slowly evolved to a technical player. 

Q. Chess is an all-consuming sport. How do you unwind?

I like watching movies, especially comedies, and when I’m at home, I go out and play badminton with my friends. But it’s been a long time since I’ve done that as I’ve hardly been home lately. 

Q. Do you miss not having a social circle because of your chess career?

Yes, it's one of the things I’ve had to sacrifice to get the other. The life that I have now is also something special, so not that I regret it. But it would have been nice to have friends from school or the neighbourhood.