Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa dialed his family after end of game on Thursday with the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen at the FIDE Chess World Cup Final 2023. There was a clear expression of disappointment from the 18-year-old and his sister and father in Chennai wasted no time telling him that he was in for the long haul and reminded about the upcoming championship in Germany.
In the household of the most-watched chess player currently, wrong moves are equally important as the triumphant ones, as they give way to lasting lessons. In Chess. And in life.
R Vaishali, Praggnanandhaa’s sister, tamed her brother’s victory when she was 12, at an exhibition match a decade ago. A professional player herself, Vaishali was introduced to chess by her concerned parents who wanted to dissuade her from watching cartoons on the TV all day long. For Praggnanandhaa, who was just 2.5 years old when his sister took up Chess, the game was another new discovery as he learned around him.
From there, Pragg has come a long way in just over 15 years. “We are very very proud that he has come this far. This is a knock out event and anything could happen. It’s really unpredictable. Even in the final match, he was fighting it all out,” she said.
Unknowingly, Vaishali summarizes all that makes her brother a very formidable player. He fights till the end no one clearly understands his method, thanks to his inscrutable demeanour. In a game where psychology, grit and cool-headedness under pressure are most haves, Pragg has all these arrows in his quiver.
In Thursday’s game, things went downhill quite suddenly, says Vaishali, and that again is par for the course here. “Today, the first game was well played by Pragg. Time trouble in the end and he misplayed. Things went wrong in the end. It is already difficult against such a player to come back after a one-game loss. Pragg did put his fight in the second game, though,” she said.
Nevertheless, she continues, Pragg is equally fascinated with the ebb and flow of the game. Results do matter but they don’t dominate his mindspace, she says: “He is very cool-headed. He doesn’t take the wins and losses to his head. He enjoys playing chess. He doesn’t take the results to his head.”
For Pragg’s father, Rameshbabu, concerns around food and sleep matter more than the intricacies of Chess. And, Pragg’s was not playing another other champion, “I never advise my son on anything regarding the game. I advise him to have good food and take rest.”
Praggnanandhaa’s family is quite clear how they want him approach chess, a cerebral marathon, not a quick-fire sprint. And like that, Pragg will take defeats in his stride.
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