R Praggnanandhaa is exhausted but he has no time to rest. The teen sensation, who won silver in the FIDE World Cup after losing to World No.1 and five-time champion, Magnus Carlsen in a gruelling final that went on for three days and needed a tie-break to decide the winner, is already gearing for his next tournament in Germany. The 18-year-old will fly from Baku, Azerbaijan to Germany to take part in another chess tournament starting from Monday.
“I’m exhausted and I just hope to take some rest now. I have another tournament coming up on Monday,” Praggnanandhaa said after the loss to Carlsen in a tie-breaker on Thursday.
Praggnanandhaa has been on the run for the last two months, playing one tournament after the other. In fact, the back-to-back tournaments hurt his preparations for the World Cup. “I have been playing continuous tournaments so I didn’t have much time to train for this event. I had a week to look at my opponents’ games and try to get an idea. And then when I came to the event, I didn’t really expect to go into the finals, but yeah, very happy.”
Chess is a mental game which requires cognitive skills like critical thinking, pattern recognition, and strategic planning.
So how does Praggnanandhaa keep his mind fresh amid such a packed schedule? “I think hunger is a very important thing when you feel like working you have to start off, otherwise it can lead to burnout.”The Chennai native revealed that after undergoing the rigours of a tournament such as this, where he has to play back-to-back matches, he prefers to stay away from the chess board. I just try to play some sport. Badminton and table tennis,” he said.
Praggnanandhaa put up a stunning show in the World Cup. He may have failed to get the better of Carlsen despite dragging him to the tiebreak but his stupendous run in the tournament involved defeating world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura and world No.3 Fabiano Caruana.
His list of achievements does not end there, as he also became the third youngest player after Bobby Fischer and Carlsen to qualify for the Candidates tournament. “No, not yet, but I guess it will at some point,” he said with a smile when asked if he understood the magnitude of his feat.
Simplicity is the key for Praggnanandhaa and his family
The humbleness comes from his father, Rameshbabu, who is a bank official. Rameshbabu’s idea of celebrating such an enormous occasion was laced with simplicity.
He said he would wait for his son to return from Germany and then offer a prayer. “Normally, we go to the temple after his win. This time also we will do the same once he returns from Germany,” said Ramesh.
Ramesh said the family never puts any kind of pressure on Praggnanandhaa. “He is just 18 and he was playing against the world number one, and finishing runner-up to him is no mean feat,” he added.
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