There is no rivalry with Magnus Carlsen, says R Praggnanandhaa

Indian chess star R. Praggnanandhaa brushed away talks about a prospective rivalry with former World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

Praggnanandhaa recorded his first victory in classical chess over Carlsen at the recently concluded Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger. Interestingly, during the closing ceremony, Carlsen narrated that his loss to Praggnanandhaa was, in fact, the most memorable match of the tournament for him.

Speaking on his relationship with Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa said there was no rivalry between them as they bring out the best in each other. “Whenever we play, the matches get interesting because we both enjoy being in that position, so we don’t mind it. I think that’s the reason our matches get so interesting.”

The Chennai-born player, who is currently in Romania for the Superbet Classical tournament, heaped praise on Carlsen. “Magnus said during the closing ceremony that his game against me was memorable because after that he has become a different player. He won three games in a row in classical, which is very difficult, and very important in this tournament and this format; so overall he played quite well apart from that game.”

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In Norway, Praggnanandhaa won two, lost one and drew seven matches in addition to his three Armageddon wins. He said he was happy with his performance but felt there was scope for improvement. “I performed reasonably well. I won two classical games against Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, which was good. I feel I could have pressed a bit more in the other games. I don’t think I gave my best in all games. Although that is something I have to improve in future tournaments, in general, I feel I performed at a high level.”

With the Paris Olympics 2024 coming up, Praggnanandhaa said, “I wish the Indian contingent all the best. We are all rooting for you. I went to the Asian Games (in 2023) for the first time, and the feeling was completely different. If chess reaches the Olympics one day, I would be very happy. We do have the Chess Olympiad coming up this year, so I’m kind of excited about that. This is an exciting period for chess.” said Praggnanandhaa, who won the silver medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.