A massive year for Indian chess has started on a catastrophic note. The top guns are firing blanks at Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. There is a chance that D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa will all be out of the top-10 when the world rankings are updated in a day or two.
It was an Indian 1-2 in this event last year. In 2024, Gukesh was the runner-up. This time after 11 rounds, the world champion is 10th, Praggnanandhaa 11th, Aravindh Chithambaram 12th and Erigaisi 13th in a field of 14 players. There are two more rounds to go. Reputations dented, the priority now is to minimise damage over the weekend.
Of the mega events lined up this year, before the Chess Olympiad and World Championship comes the Candidates. Pragg is the only Indian in the open section of the event starting on March 28. Winner of four titles last year and having qualified for Candidates as leader of the FIDE Circuit 2025, he has been a pale shadow of himself.
It’s said that the cold in the coastal town in northern Netherlands feels bitter when the going gets difficult in the event known as the ‘Wimbledon of Chess’. Pragg started his 2025 march there by defeating Gukesh in a tie-breaker for the first spot. He had logged 8.5 points. This time, he has 4.5 from a win, three defeats and seven draws. From a distance, it seems as if he wants this to end quickly.
To be fair to the player who started the event as world No. 8, Pragg was not expected to excel. His calendar was hectic and took him to distant corners. From November, he played in Goa, London, Mumbai, Doha and Kolkata before travelling to Wijk aan Zee. In Kolkata, he admitted to feeling fatigued and attributed the recent dip in performance partially to the relentless travel. The 20-year-old also sounded desperate for a break after this one to get ready for Candidates.
He is optimistic that this lean run will not affect his chances. “I don’t think this will have anything to do with it because I haven’t even started preparing (for Candidates),” Pragg told the official broadcaster after posting what remains his only win of the year in the classical format.
“I started with two losses which wasn’t great,” he added. “My opponents also played well. I didn’t get too many chances. I was bad in the first game and Nodirbek (Abdusattorov) played a good game in the second. You need momentum to get into a tournament, which I didn’t get. My play wasn’t as bad as the results looks. Hopefully, it will improve.”
Pragg has lost 15.6 rating points in this meltdown. Unofficial live ratings show him at 13th in the world. Of the participants in Wijk aan Zee, Javokhir Sindarov, Matthias Bluebaum and Anish Giri will also be there at the Candidates. The former is the joint leader. Bluebaum is half-a-point behind with a boost of 22.6 in rating points. After sharing the 13th spot with Pragg for a while, Giri has moved up to eighth.
The Indian has not fired after his bull run last year. He didn’t have to, because his goal had been achieved. In the countdown to what he is aiming at, the curve has dipped. Experts are of the opinion that this will not reflect in how he fares two months later. He says that too. Players sometimes prep themselves for big events by flying low in the build-up. Refreshing his system and enjoying a bit of rest once back home, Pragg will have memories to erase when he reboots.
Also Read: Gukesh and Pragg in danger of slipping out of top-10
