Latest news with #Pragg
News18
2 days ago
- Sport
- News18
Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh Challenge For Grand Chess Tour Rapid And Blitz Tournament
Last Updated: India's R Praggnanandhaa is among the favorites in the Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz tournament, among Magnus Carlsen, D Gukesh, Fabiano Caruana, and Alireza Firouzja. The difference in ratings does not count for much, but based on form and past records, India's top player R Praggnanandhaa will be among the favourites in the third edition of the Grand Chess Tour rapid and blitz tournament, starting Wednesday. After a tough start, Pragg won his last two games in the UZ Masters tournament and then triumphed in the tiebreak games, showcasing his well-known consistency. The Croatian leg will also feature the world's best player, Magnus Carlsen, in action alongside D Gukesh, the reigning world champion, who is still striving to excel in the faster versions of classical chess. Who Are Participating In Grand Chess Tour rapid And Blitz Tournament? In addition to Carlsen and Gukesh, Pragg will face competition from other top players like Fabiano Caruana from the United States, Alireza Firouzja, the Iranian immigrant to France, and Nodirbek Abdusattarov from Uzbekistan. Garry Kasparov, inspired by Bobby Fischer, was the brain behind the Grand Chess Tour, pioneering the concept of professional chess. The young generation is now benefiting from this initiative. Praggnanandhaa has broken many barriers, winning three classical super events this year. He was particularly outstanding in his last outing in Uzbekistan, winning two consecutive games in Classical chess, tying for first place, and then dominating the tiebreaker. Though Gukesh may not be renowned for his passion for rapid or blitz chess, this impacts his credibility as the world champion. The youngest ever world champion needs to adapt to excel in all formats. Magnus Carlsen has officially announced that he will not participate in FIDE events anymore, a significant blow to the apex chess body. Carlsen's return to the format where he excels could excite his global fans. While Carlsen is the clear favourite, Pragg is one of the few who could potentially challenge him. First Published:
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First Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
Praggnanandhaa's trainer reveals real reason behind his recent turnaround: 'Now he's also been adding...'
Indian GM R Praggnanandhaa has impressed in 2025 with his aggressive play and major title wins. His longtime coach RB Ramesh has revealed the secret behind the recent turnaround. Pragg recently won his third title of the year at UzChess Cup Masters. read more Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has impressed everyone with his strong performances in 2025. After winning three titles this year, including the recent UzChess Cup Masters, he is being lauded for his aggressive playing style. Praggnanandhaa's longtime coach RB Ramesh has revealed the reason behind this change. Speaking to The Indian Express, Ramesh said that Pragg was playing too safe in 2024 and that they had discussed bringing more adventure into his games. Ramesh also mentioned that Pragg has been working on new openings and trying different strategies, which has worked well for him so far. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Pragg is quite good in attack, but he was playing too solid in 2024. At least that was my impression. We discussed this and talked about being more adventurous, which you can see now. His chess was always quite good. Now he's also been adding new openings and trying a lot more variety of openings in games,' Ramesh told IE. Ramesh further revealed that there's another key person in Pragg's team, who is helping him with training. Ramesh said Grandmaster Vaibhav Suri has been working closely with Pragg for the past several months, but they had kept it private until recently when he started travelling with him for tournaments. 'Vaibhav has been helping us longer than this year. But we did not want to go public earlier (and reveal his association with Pragg). He has been with us for some time, but only recently he has started accompanying Pragg for tournaments and that has been very helpful,' he added. What's next for Praggnanandhaa? Praggnanandhaa recently joined Team Liquid ahead of the Esports World Cup 2025, strengthening the team's lineup that includes five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen and American GM Fabiano Caruana. However, to take part in the tournament, Pragg will need to earn his spot by competing in the Last Chance Qualifiers, where only four players will make it to the final EWC lineup. 12 players, including Carlsen, have already confirmed their spots for the event. Arjun Erigaisi of Generation Gaming is the only Indian to have qualified so far.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
R Praggnanandhaa's longtime trainer drops big secret as 19-year-old becomes India No. 1: ‘Did not want to go public…'
The spotlight has been on R Praggnanandhaa, who became the new India No. 1 after clinching the UzChes Cup Masters title. The 19-year-old defeated Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, with black pieces in the final round win. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa in action during a match.(PTI) The line-up in the tournament consisted of the likes of Arjun Erigaisi, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Richard Rapport, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Shamsiddin Vokhidov. Dissecting the Indian GM's win, his longtime trainer RB Ramesh spoke to Indian Express. 'Pragg is quite good in attack, but he was playing too solid in 2024. At least that was my impression. We discussed this and talked about being more adventurous, which you can see now,' he said. 'His chess was always quite good. Now he's also been adding new openings and trying a lot more variety of openings in games.' Ramesh also dropped a bombshell revelation, claiming that Praggnanandhaa also had plenty to thank his second, Vaibhav Suri. 'Vaibhav has been helping us longer than this year. But we did not want to go public earlier (and reveal his association with Pragg). He has been with us for some time, but only recently he has started accompanying Pragg for tournaments and that has been very helpful,' he said. 'It's good to have someone you know well, who believes in you, travel with you during important tournaments. When you are going through difficult times, it will be easier to believe in ourselves,' he added. In the live chess ratings, Praggnanandhaa is the new world No. 4, with an Elo rating of 2778.3. Meanwhile, D Gukesh is fifth with a rating of 1776.6, and Arjun Erigaisi (2775.7) is sixth. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (2839.2) occupies top spot, followed by American GMs Hikaru Nakamura (2807) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2). Praggnanandhaa will be looking to build on his form, and climb higher up the standings.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
R Praggnanandhaa becomes new India No. 1, D Gukesh second in latest live rankings
R Praggnanandhaa's title at the UzChess Cup Masters, saw the 19-year-old become the new India No. 1 in the live classical chess rankings. He defeated Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, with Black pieces in the final round to seal the title. R Praggnanandhaa is the new India No. 1 and D Gukesh is second.(Twitter) In the live ratings, Praggnanandhaa is fourth now, with an Elo rating of 2778.3. D Gukesh is fifth with a rating of 1776.6, and Arjun Erigaisi (2775.7) is sixth. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (2839.2) occupies top spot, followed by American GMs Hikaru Nakamura (2807) and Fabiano Caruana (2784.2). Viswanathan Anand (2743.0) is not in the top-ten, and occupies 13th position in the live rankings, and is India No. 4. Meanwhile, Aravindh Chithambaram (2724.0) is 24th in the live rankings and is India No. 5. Taking to X, Anand hailed the new India No. 1 and wrote, 'Of all his wins this year, this one seemed the least likely with just two rounds to go. However, he defeated Arjun Erigaisi (yesterday) and today in the crucial match defeated Nodirbek Abdussattorov to tie for first place.' 'In an impressive demonstration of character he won his third tiebreak of the year as well. He is deservedly the new number four in the chess world and the highest rated player in India,' he added. Meanwhile, his longtime coach RB Ramesh told The Indian Express, 'Pragg is quite good in attack, but he was playing too solid in 2024. At least that was my impression. We discussed this and talked about being more adventurous, which you can see now.' 'His chess was always quite good. Now he's also been adding new openings and trying a lot more variety of openings in games.' Ramesh also revealed that Vaibhav Suri working as Praggnanandhaa's second has been beneficial. He said, 'Vaibhav has been helping us longer than this year. But we did not want to go public earlier (and reveal his association with Pragg). He has been with us for some time, but only recently he has started accompanying Pragg for tournaments and that has been very helpful.' 'It's good to have someone you know well, who believes in you, travel with you during important tournaments. When you are going through difficult times, it will be easier to believe in ourselves.'
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
RB Ramesh explains what led to R Praggnanandhaa's barnstorming 2025: Playing ‘risky' chess, more variety of openings and second coming out of shadows
There will be a new India No. 1 in town when the official chess ratings list comes out in a few days after R Praggnanandhaa snatched victory at the uber-competitive 2nd UzChess Cup in Tashkent. The win came after some drama where the Indian found himself in a Mexican standoff with two Uzbek players from the country's golden generation. Pragg won the title against an elite 10-player Masters field in Tashkent that comprised heavy-hitters like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Arjun Erigaisi, Richard Rapport, Parham Maghsoodloo, and Aravindh Chithambaram besides the Uzbek quartet of Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Shamsiddin Vokhidov. After nine rounds of classical chess, there were three players locked at the top with 5.5 points each: Pragg, Abdusattorov and Sindarov. Pragg had started the event brightly, but had a mid-event stumble with back-to-back defeats against Maghsoodloo and Rapport (which is a candidate for one of the games of the year). Pragg started Friday needing a victory with black pieces. He did exactly that: delivering a 49-move takedown of Abdusattorov in the classical format to ensure a three-way battle for the title via the faster tiebreaks. In the tiebreaks, each of the three players needed to play six games (three against each opponent) with three minutes on the clock. It was after that mayhem that Praggnanandhaa emerged as the winner. Wrapped up the #UzChessCup Masters with a win in the final round and wins in tie breaks. Tiebreaks were crazy indeed. Grateful for all the support that I have received so far. Onto my next challenge to Croatia. — Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) June 27, 2025 'Tiebreaks were crazy indeed,' posted Pragg on his X, before adding: 'Onto my next challenge in Croatia.' The UzChess Cup also helped Pragg leap ahead of his compatriots like Arjun, Gukesh and Aravindh in one of the most heavily-contested battles in the sport at the moment: the race to be India's top-ranked player, a position which comes with other perks, like invitations to elite tournaments like Norway Chess. By beating Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa now has a live rating of 2778.3, which also propels him to World No. 4. He leaves behind Gukesh (live rating of 2776.6) and Arjun (2775.7). The UzChess Cup marks Praggnanandhaa's third title of the year. He won the extremely-competitive Tata Steel event in Wijk aan Zee (where he overpowered newly-crowned world champion Gukesh in a tense tiebreak) and the Grand Chess Tour's Superbet Chess Classic Romania (where he won a playoff against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja). The year has also seen Pragg finish 2nd at the Stepan Avagyan Memorial tournament behind Aravindh. 'Of all his wins this year, this one seemed the least likely with just two rounds to go. However, he defeated Arjun Erigaisi (yesterday) and today in the crucial match defeated Nodirbek Abdussattorov to tie for first place,' wrote five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand on X. 'In an impressive demonstration of character he won his third tiebreak of the year as well. He is deservedly the new number four in the chess world and the highest rated player in India.' 2025 has seen a different Praggnanandhaa after a quiet 2024 by his standards. The 19-year-old has been coaxed to play a brand of 'risky, more attacking and adventurous chess' by his longtime guru, RB Ramesh. Ramesh pointed at Friday's game against Abdusattorov and said that the approach from Pragg throughout the game was testament to this new mindset while playing chess, which he has adopted this year. 'Pragg is quite good in attack, but he was playing too solid in 2024. At least that was my impression. We discussed this and talked about being more adventurous, which you can see now,' Ramesh told The Indian Express. 'His chess was always quite good. Now he's also been adding new openings and trying a lot more variety of openings in games.' What has also worked for him is his second, Vaibhav Suri, who also aided the Indian team at the Chess Olympiad, emerging from behind the curtain and travelling full-time with Pragg to tournaments, starting from the event in Wijk aan Zee earlier this year. 'Vaibhav has been helping us longer than this year. But we did not want to go public earlier (and reveal his association with Pragg). He has been with us for some time, but only recently he has started accompanying Pragg for tournaments and that has been very helpful,' Ramesh said. 'It's good to have someone you know well, who believes in you, travel with you during important tournaments. When you are going through difficult times, it will be easier to believe in ourselves.' Congratulations @rpraggnachess for winning the UZchess cup 2025 after a tremendous comeback towards the end showing strong character. Amazing job by @vaibhavschess instrumental in Pragg winning many titles this year! And the other unknown gentleman who has been contributing from… — Ramesh RB (@Rameshchess) June 27, 2025 On X, while congratulating Pragg, Ramesh also indicated there was another second operating from the shadows in Pragg's team. 'Amazing job by Vaibhav, (who has been) instrumental in Pragg winning many titles this year! And the other unknown gentleman who has been contributing from behind the scenes,' Ramesh wrote on X. Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. ... Read More
