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Praggnanandhaa On Fighting To Win, India's Olympiad Hopes, Gukesh-Sindarov & More "I think at the moment, I would say he's the number one player in the world," GM Viswanathan Anand recently told The Times of India about GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who followed victory in Norway Chess 2026 by winning the 2026 Grand Chess Tour. Praggnanandhaa talked to CM Sahil Tickoo for Chess.com recently, covering the mindset that led to his recent victories, playing GM Magnus Carlsen, India's chances at the 46th FIDE Chess Olympiad, the Gukesh-Sindarov FIDE World Championship match, and more. You can watch the full 22-minute interview below. Here are some of the highlights: On his mindset in recent tournament victories: I think it's about fighting till the end. For me, when I enjoy playing, I don't mind too much about what happened the previous day—I can come back and fight the next day. I think the mindset I have right now is to go for tournament victories, so that also helps. When you keep fighting and you’re pushing for the top spot, it can go your way. Sometimes it doesn't, but you're always pushing yourself, and you’ll get the maximum results when everything is in your favor. On coming from six points behind against Caruana: Honestly, it was down to the last two blitz games—we were basically playing a two-game blitz match to decide the final. On any day, anything could have happened: some matches I’ll win, some matches Fabiano will win, it’s going to be a toss-up. I managed to win that, but overall, for me, I think the fight is what I like! I came back after being six down, and to be in that situation—it was more important for me that I was giving that fight. I didn't want to go down easy; I wanted to put up a fight. The fight is what I like! —Praggnanandhaa on his comeback against Caruana I thought: can I win a two-game rapid match against Fabi? I thought I can. And can I win a blitz match against Fabi, and I thought, yeah, I can do that against anyone. So if I can do that, the six-point margin will be gone. It's still six points—but when you see it like this, it's manageable and it's possible. On playing Magnus: I always enjoyed playing against Magnus—it was always exciting, I didn't feel the "Magnus effect." Yeah, sometimes when he puts on pressure there will always be things that you might feel, but overall, for me, whenever I play him I'm always excited. It brings a kind of excitement that makes me play my best, but also I enjoy those games—it's always fighting, and I'm always in some creative mode when I play Magnus. Maybe being the underdog also helps—you can just go and express yourself, and maybe that is also a thing. When I played him now, it was also after a long time that I played him in a classical game. You don’t get too many chances, so I was excited for it, and it went my way. I'm always in some creative mode when I play Magnus. —Praggnanandhaa On playing a simul against Magnus in 2013: Carlsen played a simul against 20 kids on the eve of his 2013 world championship match in Chennai against Anand, later commenting, "I have never played a simul before when I cannot remember how many games I drew and lost!" It was 10 wins, six draws, and four losses, including to Praggnanandhaa's sister and now GM Vaishali Rameshbabu. Yeah, it's a pity that I don't have the game. I lost the game… I lost the actual game, but I lost the game moves as well! I remember he played the Scotch Opening. At some point to me then I thought I was fine, and then he played some tactical move. I remember the move Rf3, because this is what is in my mind, but I don't remember the position or anything. This move was a complete surprise to me back then and it was just too good. It's great to play such a strong player in a simul, and now it's nice to look at those moments in those clips. On how watching his sister Vaishali compares to playing himself: I think watching is way more tense! When you're playing, you're just there, you're focused on the moment, you're completely concentrated, and of course all these thoughts about winning and everything are there, but maybe I'm used to it. Watching is the most stressful thing, especially when you're rooting for someone. Vaishali's mother and brother congratulate her on qualifying for a World Championship match! #FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/4FD1noerk3 — chess24 (@chess24com) April 15, 2026 On how he might help her for the World Championship match: I can I think do multiple roles, but I think she has a great team of people to help her in the chess aspect. Obviously, I’ll do whatever I can, but I think I'll be more useful as a brother and someone who's always there by her side. On India’s chances at the Olympiad: We have a great team, similar to last year. Nihal has come in instead of Pentala. Everyone else is the same. The captain is Srinath Narayanan, also seconds are the same, so it's just one change, and overall it's an extremely strong team. We're all good friends with each other, we're all in great spirits, so it's a fun team to hang around, and I'm excited for the Olympiad. It's a fun team to hang around! —Praggnanandhaa on the Indian Olympiad team About the other teams—obviously Uzbekistan, the U.S., and China are there. Maybe Uzbekistan and the U.S. are at the absolute top. So it'll be interesting, but there are also all these teams which are capable of upsetting any team. It's not going to be an easy event, but we'll give our best—we have a good team and we have good spirits, so if we all give our best, I think we can do it again. On whether the board order matters: It matters, but I think you can give any board order and come up with a logic to make it make sense, because we're all so strong that anyone can play at any board. So it's not such a big difference, but it's interesting that everyone is talking about all these board orders and stuff—it's great to have such things, because it shows chess is growing. All the fans really care about all these little things, which was not the case five or six years back. So it's great to have that. On predictions for Gukesh vs. Sindarov: I honestly think it's 50/50. I don't think there's any one massive favorite. Obviously Gukesh's form hasn't been the best, but it's always one tournament, or even one game, to get that confidence and form back. Even for me—if you had seen me till Norway round six, I think everyone would be saying Pragg is not in great shape, and then four days later I won the tournament. So it's always a few games, or just one game, to get that confidence, and then we all know what Gukesh is capable of—he's really shown it at the top level. It's always a few games, or just one game, to get that confidence, and then we all know what Gukesh is capable of! —Praggnanandhaa And for Javokhir as well—the first few games in a World Championship match, everyone knows how much pressure it is, but no one has actually experienced it, so it will be a new experience for him and that's also going to play a role. Overall, it's going to be a close match, and it's going to be quite interesting for me to watch, because I grew up with both of them—we're around the same age. On why, among former world champions, he’d like to play Tal: That's the first answer that came to my mind, Fischer or Kasparov, but Tal, because it would be interesting to face the sacrifices over the board, to see if I can react in a better way, if we’re stronger with calculation nowadays. It'd be interesting. On the world championship tiebreak he’d prefer—singing, dancing, or a 100-meter race: I think the world will be better if we run, honestly. I don't think dancing or singing skills… the world isn't ready to see that! When @rpraggnachess is asked the most unexpected question! pic.twitter.com/RBIVFUukbw — Chess.com - India (@chesscom_in) September 3, 2026 Praggnanandhaa will be next in action when he plays for India in the Olympiad starting September 16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. First, however, India is hosting the fourth edition of the Global Chess League, which kicks off tomorrow, September 5, in Bengaluru, with Carlsen and Anand among the players in action.