R Praggnanandhaa talks about his Chess Olympiad campaign NEW DELHI: In the open section of the 2026 Candidates Tournament, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was India's sole representative in Cyprus earlier this year. He did not win the top prize there. But the quality of chess he played was unmistakably high.He has continued to maintain that standard at every tournament since, and the results have simply followed.Despite being last at one point at Norway Chess, he made a remarkable comeback, beating five-time world champion and world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen twice on his home soil to become the first Indian ever to lift that coveted title in June. More recently, he became the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour. Coming into the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, nobody thus questioned his place as India's Board 1 player.And although he could manage only three wins from his 10 games during India's silver-and-bronze campaign, a tally that brought him an individual bronze medal too, there was never a lack of quality on show from the 21-year-old Chennai-born grandmaster."His score (6.5/10) still didn't completely reflect the level at which he played. He created chances in almost every game, quite a few draws which could have been wins. But the quality of his play was really high," captain Srinath Narayanan told TimesofIndia.com after the campaign. "It never looked like Pragg was in danger of losing. Even the couple of times he fought into slightly worse positions, body-language-wise, he was the one pushing. His opponents were the ones who were a bit stressed."The Uzbekistan Olympiad, though, wasn't an ideal one healthwise for much of the Indian contingent, and Pragg was among those who had to battle it out while under the weather. Fever, fatigue, and fighting through it "I'm recovering," he told this website, when asked if he was back to full health after the gruelling tournament, which had only one rest day. "The last few days I was having some cold and a little fever as well at some point. So I wasn't high on energy towards the end of the tournament. But it kind of got better after the tournament ended. The last few days have been better. I'm also getting good sleep, so it's fine."There was an obvious question about conditions, food, or the weather in Samarkand. Pragg waved most of that away. "I think the conditions were extremely good. The first day, we had a little inconvenience. But after that, the Uzbek Chess Federation arranged a private place for the Indian team to have their own dinner. We got the Indian food from the AICF, thanks to AICF, and we could keep it in this place. Generally, I think the overall arrangements after the first day were really good, thanks to AICF and the Uzbek Federation as well."So what was behind the string of illnesses, if not the food or the travel?"It was not a problem with any of those. I think it's just that something was maybe spreading among the players. I think it started with someone and then everyone towards the end got it." Asked if it was simply a viral fever making the rounds, he agreed. "Yeah, probably like viral fever that was spreading. I heard that even before the tournament, in my area and stuff, there were people who were getting it. But we were all fine in the first half of the tournament. It was mainly in the second half that these things started." R Praggnanandhaa at 2026 Chess Olympiad It's rare, he insisted, for it to catch up with him specifically. "In general, I try not to experiment too much during a tournament. I go with my comfort food. I don't do something that brings a cold — even something like going out in the cold can trigger it. We also take medicines that usually don't make you sleepy, so you can be prepared in such a way. But generally, these things don't happen during a tournament. For me, I don't know when the last time was that I had a cold during a tournament. I can't really think of it. These things are rare for all the players. We're generally able to avoid these things, but it happens in some tournaments. Sometimes it's not in your control." A personal campaign that read better than the scoreline On the board, Pragg's own account of his Olympiad matched what his captain had already said. "For me, I think I played well. Overall, the quality was okay. Most of the games I was pushing, I was the one creating a lot of chances. I think the only two games where I was worse were against Anish (Giri) and Rapport (Richard) in the last game. But it was only for a few moves. It's not like I had to defend for a long time. It was just a few moves, and then the position changed. Either I was fine or I was taking over." R Praggnanandhaa plays against Anish Giri Where it stung was in the games he should have put away. "Given the chances I had, I could have, should have probably scored one or two wins more. Some games it was surprising how I missed. For example, the match against Spain, against Anton, I missed a completely winning position. That was kind of surprising to me as well. But these things happen in sports. Sometimes you convert these things effortlessly, but sometimes you also miss these chances. It all happens," the 21-year-old GM remarked. Where the gold went missing Zoom out to the team picture, and Pragg is unambiguous about where the Olympiad was decided and at peace with how it ended."I think silver is a good result. Obviously, after coming from a gold medal last year and the way we won gold, there was an expectation from everyone, also from the players, that you're coming from such a high and you want to keep it. You want to win gold again. Obviously, repeating that performance is difficult, but you want to win gold again. But there are other strong teams, so it's not going to be easy every time. I think, in that way, silver is a good result. Given how strong the Olympiad was and how many close matches we had, I think silver is a good result," Praggnanandhaa explained.One match, though, decided it."Obviously, the critical match was against Uzbekistan. I think it's going to be the critical match in every Olympiad to come, because we're all strong players and we're all young, so there are going to be a lot of Olympiads where we will face each other. It's going to be interesting. But obviously, that match was the critical one," he said. Srinath Narayanan waits for Nihal Sarin's game to end Explaining what actually went wrong in it, he continued, "The Uzbek team also knew this was going to be like a final, because whoever wins has a massive advantage. One unfortunate moment (the queen blunder in Nihal Sarin's game against Uzbekistan) for us cost us the match, and these things happen in a tournament. But I felt overall, in that match, we were all playing well. Our game quality was really good. All of us were pressing at some point. We were not worse at any moment. There were no boards where we were in danger."One blunder can happen at any stage of a tournament, to anyone. I can show every top player blundering in some crucial game. It happens, and it's unfortunate that it happened at this moment. Obviously, it was difficult for all of us, but I think we all stood as a team. I think we recovered from that."Padel sessions between games, he added with a laugh, helped more than people might assume, "Yeah, I mean, especially for Nihal, it was more difficult, but I think we all managed to stay as a team, and I think we all are recovered now." I've been playing how I want to play. I've been enjoying playing the games, and I think it's also showing in the results. R Praggnanandhaa, Indian Grandmaster Candidates in the rearview, Clutch Chess ahead The Olympiad arrives roughly five months after Pragg's own campaign at the Candidates in Cyprus fell short of the world title shot, a result that, by his own admission, shaped much of his year."It's been good these last few months. But obviously, I think the crucial tournament was the Candidates Tournament, which was a disappointment. After that, I felt my play has generally been good. I've been playing how I want to play. Join conversation View All Comments → Share your thoughts in the comments Post Comment Be respectful · TOI community guidelines I've been enjoying playing the games, and I think it's also showing in the results."Does the Candidates setback still linger? "Not too much. I think these results do help in getting out of it completely. But of course, when you think about the future, Candidates is the main thing."For now, the schedule doesn't leave much room to dwell on it anyway. Pragg is already looking at his next two stops: Clutch Chess in the US, starting October 27, followed by the Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot event in Budapest on November 10.A fever-interrupted Olympiad behind him, a title shot still unfinished business ahead, Praggnanandhaa feels his story has just begun. 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