Changes in my game showing results: R Praggnanandhaa
: After enduring a lean patch last year, Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa has stormed back to form with three major titles this year — a run that has propelled him to India No. 1 and World No.
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4 in the live rankings.
It also firmly placed him in contention for a 2026 FIDE Candidates berth. The 19-year-old kicked off the season with a memorable win at Wijk aan Zee, followed it up with a joint-first finish at the Superbet Chess Classic in Romania, and then clinched the UzChess Cup in Tashkent, which put him in pole position on the FIDE Circuit leaderboard with 86.28 points.
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While the World Cup and Grand Swiss later this year will be decisive, for now, the Chennai youngster is well and truly in the driver's seat.
'This year has been good for me so far and I hope it continues. We made some changes in my game and it's showing results. Last year, things didn't go my way. Ramesh sir and I worked and tried to find things to change… Those were the difficult things. Now there are a lot of tournaments coming up… Candidates, Grand Swiss, GCT… And I'm trying to focus on all of them and take one at a time,' Pragg said on the sidelines of the 'Chola Chess' academy launch here on Wednesday.
When asked if he feels on track for the Candidates seat, Pragg said: 'I'm giving my best and we will see… There are a lot more important tournaments lined up. In the FIDE Circuit, anyone can come up and catch me. For me personally, I will take each tournament separately and I want to give my best for every tournament. Let's see how it goes.'
Anand hopeful that Pragg will qualify for Candidates
Pragg had qualified for the Candidates last year but finished fifth in the tournament. Five-time world champion
believes the teenager has got 'extra motivation' to perform better.
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'He's having a sensational year. I think for him, missing out (on winning) the Candidates last year is a reaction this year. He's got that extra motivation. The most important thing is not to be leading the Circuit now… it's to be leading when it ends. Hopefully, it'll happen,' said Anand.
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EDITOR's NOTE: Chess 101 is a series on helping strengthen chess fundamentals with breakdowns from Shivika Rohilla, a Woman FIDE Master based in New Delhi, who is also the founder of the Shivika Rohilla Chess Academy (SRCA). The move 1.c4, known as the English Opening, has long held a unique place in the landscape of chess openings. Often seen as a quieter, more positional alternative to the aggressive 1.e4 or the flexible 1.d4, the English offers a sophisticated way to fight for the center without immediate confrontation. The English is more prevalent and malleable than the other openings we have examined, like 1.b4 or 1.f4. The opening's 'English' term comes from Howard Staunton, one of the game's early champions, who popularized it in international competition in the 19th century. At the greatest levels of competition, it has proven to be a potent weapon in the hands of luminaries like Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, and Vladimir Kramnik. Players that appreciate flexibility, structure, and long-term strategy love it because of its versatility in middlegames, which range from symmetrical struggles to reverse Sicilian attacks. Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky, World Championship 1972 (Game 6), is one of the most famous and historically significant games ever played in English. Fischer played 1.c4 instead of his routine 1.e4. His positional play and thorough comprehension of the ensuing structures resulted in one of his most memorable triumphs, as well as a psychological tipping moment in the match. This position emerged after 14 moves, with Fischer having the upper hand. Another memorable and critical game was played in 2010: Anand vs. Topalov – World Chess Championship (Game 11). The following position developed after the first five moves, and it demonstrates the fundamental framework that can be expected in English if it fails to migrate into other openings with the Queen's pawn. Quiet but crafty, 1.c4 is chess's sneaky ninja—stealthily controlling the center and surprising opponents with rich tactics. From old-school legends to today's champs, it's the move that proves subtlety can pack a powerful punch on the board. Want to improve your chess basics? Or are you looking for an unconventional way to catch your opponent off-guard from the opening? Read all the articles from the Chess 101 series about chess openings here Shivika Rohilla is a Woman FIDE Master based in New Delhi. At just 17, she founded the Shivika Rohilla Chess Academy (SRCA), which she runs alongside her mother, Dr Nidhi Bhasin Rohilla, and national instructor Yogender Sharma. Passionate about both chess and education, Shivika recently passed Class XII with an impressive 95%, scoring a perfect 100 in English. And right on the heels of that, she scored her second Women International Master norm, raising hope that Delhi could get its second WIM after decades-long wait. The 18-year-old firmly believes that excellence in chess and academics can go hand in hand—and is living proof that it's possible to pursue both with dedication and discipline. Through SRCA, she is also working to promote chess among girls and young women. ... Read More
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FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025: How Koneru Humpy, R Vaishali and other Indians have fared so far
Ahead of the fourth round of the 2025 Women's Chess World Cup, we take a look at how all the Indians in action have fared so far in the tournament, including the ones knocked out in the third round and earlier. read more Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali are among the Indians still alive in the 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup in Batumi, Georgia. Image credit: FIDE The third edition of the FIDE Women's World Cup is halfway through with the fourth round of the competition set to get underway from Wednesday. The 107-player tournament got underway on 6 July and has been running non-stop until Tuesday, the first 'Free Day' in the itinerary. And out of the 16 players who will be in action in the fourth round that starts on Wednesday, four are Indians. Grandmasters Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali and International Master Divya Deshmukh have kept the tricolour flying high so far in Batumi, Georgia, and each of them will be hopeful of going the distance in the tournament in order to qualify for next year's Candidates Tournament. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The top three finishers in the ongoing World Cup, after all, will book their place in the eight-player tournament next year. And with four Indians still in the competition, there's hope that at least a couple of them book their places via the World Cup route, if not through other methods. Ahead of the fourth round of the 2025 Women's Chess World Cup, we take a look at how all the Indians in action have fared so far in the tournament, including the ones knocked out in the third round and earlier: Still in contention: Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R Vaishali and Divya Deshmukh Each of the four Indians still in the competition were among the top 21 seeds who had received a first-round bye and went straight into the second round. Vaishali was brought in as a replacement for Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva after the latter withdrew from the tournament, and started her campaign with a 2-0 victory over Canada's Maili-Jade Ouellet before facing stiffer competition from USA's Carissa Yip, who held her to four consecutive draws before the 24-year-old prevailed in the tie-breaks. 🇮🇳 GM Vaishali Rameshbabu (2478) beats 🇺🇸 IM Carissa Yip (2453) and advances to Round 4! Next opponent: 🇰🇿 IM Meruert Kamalidenova#FIDEWorldCup — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 14, 2025 Harika, meanwhile, started her campaign with a victory over PV Nandhidhaa in an all-Indian clash – beating her in the second game after the first one ended in a draw. And like Vaishali, Harika played out four consecutive stalemates in her third-round meeting, with Greece's Stavroula Tsolakidou, before advancing with back-to-back wins in the 10+10 rapid games. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Humpy, the top-seeded Indian in the tournament at fourth, and Divya have had relatively simpler routes to the fourth round, winning both of their matches so far by 1.5-0.5 scorelines and not playing a single tie-break game so far. Reigning women's rapid world champion Humpy defeated Uzbekistan's Afruza Khamdamova in the second round followed by Klaudia Kulon in the third. Divya, on the other hand, has defeated Georgia's Kesaria Mgeladze and Serbia's Teodora Injac in the second and third round respectively. Eliminated: Vantika Agrawal, PV Nandhidhaa, Priyanka K, Priya Rout and Kiran Manisha Mohanty Vantika's performance has been one of the highlights of the tournament so far, even if she bowed out with a 3.5-2.5 defeat against seventh-seeded Russian GM Kateryna Lagno in the third round. The 23-year-old International Master, after all, had stunned former world champion Anna Ushenina 4.5-3.5 in the second round in a major upset, beating the Ukrainian in the opening Classical game and eventually prevailing in the tie-breaks after her opponent fought back. Vantika had earlier opened her campaign with a 1.5-0.5 victory over Turkmenistan's Lala Shohradova. The trio of Nandidhaa, Priyanka and Priya bowed out in the second round – Nandidhaa losing to compatriot Harika and Priyanka and Priya losing against Kulon and Alexandra Kosteniuk respectively. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Kiran was the only Indian to bow out in the first round after she lost to China's Song Yuxin 1.5-0.5.
