 "Praggnanandhaa rubbishes claims of hiding FIDE Candidates preparation after first win at Tata Steel 2026: 'I haven’t even...'")
R Praggnanandhaa has refuted the suggestion that his poor form at the ongoing Tata Steel 2026 is a result of his trying to hide his preparation for the FIDE Candidates 2026. Praggnanandhaa, the only Indian to qualify for FIDE Candidates 2026, had been on a winless streak at the ‘Wimbledon of Chess’ in Wijk aan Zee till Tuesday, but broke the poor run against compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram.
Praggnanandhaa’s first win of the tournament came after nine rounds, raising alarms about his form ahead of the FIDE Candidates 2026 in March-April, a tournament that will decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship against world champion D Gukesh.
Praggnanandhaa reacts to first win at Tata Steel 2026
Speaking to the organisers after his much-awaited win, which came with white pieces and in 84 moves, Praggnanandhaa said that he felt the match was heading towards a draw, but had to show some resilience to eke out a win.
“I haven’t been able to score a single win, but today I wasn’t really expecting to score, to be honest,” Praggnanandhaa said. “At some point, I really thought it would be a draw. But then it started to slowly become tricky and towards the end, once I got my rook active and it’s quite tricky. And also I must have missed simpler wins towards the end, but at least I didn’t screw it up, so I managed to keep control and I managed to do it.”
He added that his poor form has also been a result of some of his opponents playing good chess.
“I started with two losses, which is not a great thing. And since then, my opponents have also been playing well. I didn’t really get many chances. I was just trying to play my best and see if I’ll get any chances. It’s not really great, but still, I think, getting the first one is good.”
Praggnanandhaa says Candidates not behind poor form
When asked if he is playing badly because he is trying to hide his preparation for the Candidates, Praggnanandhaa strongly refuted the suggestion and said that he is yet to begin his preparation for that tournament.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with it, because I haven’t even started preparing,” Praggnanandhaa said. “So it has nothing to do with it. It’s not even that the second game was bad. I think it’s more like the first game was bad and then the second game, Nodirbek (Abdusattorov) played a really good game. So, I mean, then you have two losses, then you need momentum to get into the tournament, which I was not getting. Overall, my play is not as bad as the result looks, but hopefully it will improve.”
Despite failing to win a match till Round 9, Praggnanandhaa is only two points behind the leader, Abdusattorov (6), with four rounds still to go. If everything falls into place, he can still win the tournament.
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