 "R Praggnanandhaa with fellow Chennai chess players D Gukesh and Aravindh Chidambaram. Image: PTI")
Competition breeds excellence and success. It’s true for every sport, and chess Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa’s recent comments on how the success of his challengers, including world champion D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, has served as an extra motivating factor for him, go to show how healthy competition can be beneficial for players.
India’s No.1 player, Praggnanandhaa, who turned 20 on Sunday, made the revelation on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast as he spoke about how the success of players from his generation made him feel insecure in the past, but he changed his approach by looking at them as an inspiration.
Praggnanandhaa turns insecurity into motivation
Praggnanandhaa was the first from the current golden age of Indian chess stars to make the headlines as he reached the FIDE World Cup final in 2023, but lost to world No.1 Magnus Carlsen. He, however, endured a subdued 2024 as Gukesh went on to become the world champion at only 18 and Arjun became the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to cross 28000 Elo rating.
“No, not right now. But I guess in the past (they did),” Praggnanandhaa said when asked about feeling insecure.
Asked who made him feel insecure, Praggnanandhaa replied: “Just the players from my generation, whenever they were doing (well) it was putting some pressure on me, I mean I was putting pressure on myself, but I started seeing them as inspiration… now whenever they do well, I get this extra motivation. I want to push myself. It doesn’t come as a pressure but as an inspiration and I want to do well."
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Probed further about the players who have served as inspiration for Praggnanandhaa, the Chennai Grandmaster took the names of Gukesh, Erigaisi and Uzbek player Nodirbek Abdusattarov.
“Mostly (players) from my generation. Let’s say Gukesh or Arjun (Erigaisi) do well. Or Nodirbek (Abdusattarov). When they do well, I feel like I can do it as well. So I tried to put pressure on myself which is not a good thing. I mean getting inspired from them is a different thing. Nowadays, I am better at it because last year I didn’t have a great year while Gukesh won the world championship, Arjun crossed 2800. All these things just inspired me so much," he said.
“I was seeing their games so closely, trying to understand. It inspired me and I think that’s one of the reasons I feel that extra energy I have when I play games nowadays. That inspiration that comes from them.”
He reiterated that there’s no insecurity anymore. “When you just want to give your best and not worry about the results, I don’t think there is anything to be worried about.”