Pragg absolutely gave his all: Coach Srinath Narayanan

CHENNAI: The 25-day long rollercoaster ride that was the FIDE Chess World Cup ended with India’s R Praggnanandhaa finishing second against Norway’s Magnus Carlsen. The No. 1 ranked Carlsen defeated the 18-year-old Indian prodigy, the youngest World Cup finalist, in the tiebreaker to win the title in Baku, Azerbaijan, adding to his five World Chess Championship titles.

“Pragg absolutely gave his all,” Srinath Narayanan, the Indian Grandmaster and India’s coach for the Asian Games, told this daily. “But Magnus still seems to be the better player between not just the two, but also against all the leaders of the new generation whether it is D Gukesh or Arjun Erigaisi, etc. I think Magnus was always going to be the favourite but Pragg has pulled off some incredible things in the past,” he added.
“There was always some hope from Pragg’s side and he fought really well, he tried to create chances. Magnus just turned out to be the more experienced, stronger player and he held on to one of those moments towards the end of that match otherwise it was a pretty even match.”

Srinath believes after Viswanathan Anand’s domination in the early 2000s, the wave of young players has brought renewed energy to chess. Along with Pragg, Gukesh, Arjun, and Vidit Gujarathi made it to the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup this year. The 29-year-old explained, “We had Anand winning everything, in 2002-04. But back then it was different times and it was just one exceptional player from India. Now, we have a generation of players coming through. We had four Indians in the quarter and we had this representation in the final. As a country, I think we had the best performance in the World Cup. It’s something incredible to see.”