After a relentless 2025, R Praggnanandhaa starts classical campaign at Tata Steel Chess with twin defeats | Chess News

Right after winning last year’s Tata Steel Chess tournament in the windswept and cold Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee, R Praggnanandhaa had joked about buying a gift for Arjun Erigaisi. It was the latter’s last-ditch intervention — in the form of a victory in the final round over world champion D Gukesh — that had assed Pragg in getting into a tie-break to decide the title.
The tie-break saw more unexpected good luck come his way: after losing the first game and winning the second, Pragg was repeating moves to play out a draw against Gukesh in the third, when the world champion overplayed his hand in trying to go for an outright result, and lost.
It set Pragg on course for one of his best years on the circuit, which he ended securing a Candidates spot.
However, in sharp contrast, Praggnandhaa’s started 2026 with two defeats in a row at Wijk, to Erigaisi and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
R Praggnanandhaa at the Tata Steel Chess Kolkata. (Express photo | Partha Paul)
For Pragg, who will be mentally steeling himself for the Candidates tournament in just over two months’ time, the results will be alarming. But the two defeats in themselves are not cause for concern yet, believes Grandmaster Srinath Narayanan, who has coached many of India’s top grandmasters besides being the Indian team’s coach at the last Chess Olympiad.
“Obviously, it’s not ideal for Pragg to lose any game. But the two results will have almost no relevance to the Candidates because it’s still a couple of months away. If anything, it will help Pragg get into better shape,” says Srinath.
Srinath points out that considering how much chess Pragg has played over the past year, fatigue might be a factor in the 20-year-old’s results.Story continues below this ad

During the Global Chess League last month, Pragg had told The Indian Express that he had barely spent any time at home in 2025. He had played in Wijk aan Zee, Prague, Paris, Warsaw, Bucharest, Jermuk (Armenia), Tashkent, Zagreb, Las Vegas, Saint Louis, Samarkand (Uzbekan), Sao Paulo and London, besides the FIDE World Cup and the GCL in India. “I’ve hardly been home this year. At most, I got two weeks. To me, that’s not really a break, because the time you feel relaxed, another tournament is there and you have to start playing,” Pragg had said.
He had also spoken about how he had felt “dead” during the UzChess Cup in Tashkent in June when he played for seven hours on the final day before attending the closing ceremony and then immediately flying out for another tournament on the same day.
“There is a factor of tiredness, fatigue in general. He mentioned that he was spending a maximum of 15 days at home last year,” Srinath said. “The mental fatigue catches up with you if you’re constantly playing against such top-level opposition so frequently. Then over a period of time, it starts showing in your play. He hasn’t had a big break. I do feel that there’s an effect of fatigue in Pragg’s recent tournaments.”

Of all tournaments on the chess calendar, Wijk aan Zee is the most unforgiving, as it’s played over 13 rounds and in freezing conditions. Just like last year, Praggnanandhaa will hope for a lucky break or two over the next 11 rounds.
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Amit Kamath is Assant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. He primarily writes on chess and Olympic sports, and co-hosts the Game Time podcast, a weekly offering from Express Sports. He also writes a weekly chess column, On The Moves. … Read More

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