Carlsen showing appreciation for Praggnanandhaa at end of draw showed he enjoyed the game and it was a mark of respect, says GM Srinath Narayanan

On the other hand, Carlsen retired for the second consecutive time against USA’s 19-year-old Grand Master Hans Niemann this week. The insinuation has been that the American has either found a way to cheat without getting caught or has earned his Norwegian counterpart’s ire for his chequered past as a chess cheat in online tournaments.

In the midst of all this, there has been the case of Praggnanandhaa and the hype engulfing the Indian teenager. GM Srinath Narayanan thinks that by 2024-25, Praggnanandhaa will be in a position to challenge Carlsen and other top players in the world across formats.

“I think playing against Carlsen can make people go two ways. On one hand there is that added motivation – you’re playing the world champion and this is your chance. Or it can lead to intimidating circumstances where people would play worse than they normally do,” said Srinath to the Indian Express.

“Pragg plays the first way. This is not his first challenge as he has grown in the chess world this way only. At one point facing any GM would have been a big challenge for him when he wasn’t a GM. He used to lose a lot of games initially and then overcame that. The process is similar.”

Praggnanandhaa has now racked up six victories over Carlsen, with three of them coming consecutively over the past few months. Yesterday, during their time-controlled match, the Chennai-born teenager immediately gained the upper hand.

The opening that Carlsen went with was one that he had been using for multiple opponents and had used as recently as the day before against Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi. But according to Srikanth, the same opening was not the best idea against Praggnanandhaa as when playing with black, it ends up giving a straightforward advantage to the player playing with white pieces. And that’s exactly what happened as Praggnanandhaa’s opening put him in the driver’s seat for the match.

But the advantage was one that the young Indian was not able to capitalise on.

“One thing I felt was that Pragg was playing too slow. I think it’s been costing him a bit where he has been gaining good positions but he’s not able to finish it off. It happened against Arjun as well. I felt he could have played faster through the opening and earlier opening phases,” said Srinath

“It can be quite challenging to manage a 15-minute time limit. Unlike classical chess, it is a thin line between maintaining your level of play, your quality and ensuring that you don’t fall too behind on time. I wouldn’t say it’s overthinking because it’s not an easy situation to balance,” he then added.

The lack of time at the end was one of the factors as the 17-year-old ceded his early game advantage and both Grand Masters settled for a draw. It was right as the game was about to draw to a close that Magnus clapped for his opponent and showed the thumbs up to him. The Indian GM later told Chess24 that he actually didn’t see Magnus’ appreciative gesture.

“I didn’t see it then. I just checked it now. I didn’t know (then). It was a great fight, I think,” Praggnanandhaa told Chess24.com. Praggnanandhaa then explained his game plan against Carlsen afterwards and said, “He had already played this line against Arjun in the first game. I was checking it this morning. The set five is already completely crushing for white. I am upset that I couldn’t finish him off then.”

Srinath felt that Carlsen’s endgame gesture would do a world of good for the confidence of Praggnanandhaa.

“I think Magnus thoroughly enjoyed the game and that was a mark of respect and sportsmanship at the end of the game. I think it would have made Pragg feel good. Going home knowing he has gone toe-to-toe against Magnus regularly will do his self-belief a world of good.”