'I had a fever, I didn't have much energy': R Praggnanandhaa after double medals at Chess Olympiad

R Praggnanandhaa talks about his campaign in the Chess Olympiad NEW DELHI: In the open leg of the 2026 Candidates Tournament, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was India’s sole representative in Cyprus earlier this year. He did not win the main prize there. But the quality of the chess he played was unmistakably high.Since then, he has maintained this standard at every tournament and the results have simply followed.Despite coming last in the Norwegian Chess at one point, he made a remarkable comeback by defeating five-time world champion and world number one Magnus Carlsen twice on home soil to become the first ever Indian to lift the coveted title in June.He recently became the first Indian to win a Grand Chess Tour. Coming into the 46th Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, no one questioned his place on India’s 1-player board.And although he managed just three wins from his 10 games during India’s silver and bronze, which also earned him an individual bronze medal, the 21-year-old Chennai-born grandmaster never lacked for quality.“His score (6.5/10) still didn’t quite reflect the level he was playing at. He created chances in almost every game, quite a few draws that could have been wins. But the quality of his play was really high,” captain Srinath Narayanan told TimesofIndia.com after the campaign. “It never looked like Pragg was in danger of losing. Even the few times he fought in slightly worse positions, body language-wise, he was the one pushing. His opponents were the ones who were a little stressed.”However, the Olympics in Uzbekistan were not medically ideal for a large part of the Indian contingent and Pragg was among those who had to battle it out under inclement weather.

Fever, fatigue and struggle with it

“I’m on the mend,” he told the site when asked if he was back to full health after a grueling tournament with only one rest day. “The last couple of days I’ve had a bit of a cold and at some point a bit of a fever. So towards the end of the tournament I wasn’t very energized. But after the tournament it kind of got better. The last couple of days have been better. I’m also sleeping well so that’s cool.”There was a clear question about conditions, food or weather in Samarkand. Pragg waved most of it away. “I think the conditions were extremely good. We had a bit of inconvenience on the first day. But then the Uzbek Chess Federation arranged a private place for the Indian team to have their own dinner. We got the Indian food from the AICF, thanks to the AICF, and we were able to keep it at this place. In general, I think the overall arrangement after the first day was really good, thanks to the Uzbek Federation and also thanks to the AICF.”So what was behind the string of illnesses if not food or travel?“There wasn’t a problem with any of it. I think it was just maybe something spread among the players. I think it started with someone and then everyone got it by the end.” When asked if it was just a viral fever, he agreed. “Yeah, probably like a viral fever that spread. I heard that before the tournament, around me and stuff, there were people who got it. But in the first half of the tournament, we were all fine. Especially in the second half, these things started.”

R Praggnanandhaa at the 2026 Chess Olympiad (photo by Michal Walusza for FIDE)

It’s rare, he insisted, that it would specifically catch up with him. “Generally, I try not to experiment too much during a tournament. I go with my comfort food. I don’t do anything that brings on a cold — even something like going out with a cold can trigger it. We also take medication that doesn’t usually make you sleepy, so you can be prepared in that way. But generally, those things don’t happen during a tournament. For me, I don’t really know when a cold during a tournament was that I had those things.’ for all players we can generally avoid these things, but in some tournaments sometimes you can’t control it.”

A personal campaign that reads better than the score

On the deck, Pragg’s own description of his Olympics matched what his captain had already said. “For me, I think I played well. Overall the quality was fine. Most of the games I pushed, I created a lot of chances. I think the only two games where I was worse was in the last game against Anish (Giri) and Rapport (Richard). But it was only for a few moves. It’s not like I had to defend for a few moves and then it was fine, it was fine. I was taking over.”

R Praggnanandhaa plays against Anish Giri (photo by Michal Walusza for FIDE)

Where it stung was in the games he was supposed to put down. “Given the chances I had, I could have, I probably should have given one or two more wins. Some matches it was surprising how I missed it. For example, the match with Spain, against Anton, I completely missed a winning position. That surprised me too. But such things happen in sports. Sometimes you convert these things effortlessly, but sometimes you also miss these chances. It all happens,” noted the 21-year-old GM.

Where did the gold go?

Cut to the team picture, and Pragg is clear about where the Olympics were decided and is resigned to how it ended.“I think the silver is a good result. Obviously, after we won the gold medal last year and the way we won the gold, the expectation from everyone, including the players, was that you get that high and you want to keep it. You want to win gold again. Obviously it’s difficult to repeat this performance, but you want to win gold again. But there are other strong teams, so silver is not always easy. The Olympics were strong and how many close matches we had, I think silver is a good result,” explained Praggnanandhaa.However, one match was decided.“Obviously the critical match was against Uzbekistan. I think it will be a critical match in every next Olympics because we are all strong players and we are all young, so there will be a lot of Olympics where we meet. It will be interesting. But of course that match was critical,” he said.

Srinath Narayanan waits for the end of Nihal Sarin’s game (Photo: Michal Walusza for FIDE)

Explaining what actually went wrong in it, he continued: “The Uzbek team also knew that it would be like a final because whoever wins has a huge advantage. One unlucky moment (queen error in Nihal Sarin against Uzbekistan) cost us the match and these things happen in the tournament. But overall I felt that we had a lower quality in that match. We all did not play well. We all did not play well. there was danger.“One mistake can happen at any stage of the tournament, to anyone. I can show that every top player has made a mistake in a crucial game. It happens and it’s unfortunate that it happened at this moment. Obviously it was difficult for all of us, but I think we all stood as a team. I think we recovered from it.”Padel’s sessions between games, he added with a laugh, helped more than people might think, “Yeah, I think it was more difficult for Nihal in particular, but I think we all managed to stay as a team and I think we’re all recovered now.”

I played how I want to play. I enjoyed the games and I think it shows in the results.

R Praggnanandhaa, Indian Grandmaster

Candidates in the back, clutch chess in the front

The Olympics come roughly five months after Pragg’s own Candidates campaign in Cyprus fell short of a world title, a result he admits affected much of his year.“The last few months have been good. But of course I think the deciding tournament was the Candidates Tournament, which was disappointing. After that I felt my game was generally good. I played the way I want to play. I enjoyed the games and I think it shows in the results.”Are candidates still failing? “Not much. I think these results help to get out of it completely. But of course, when you think about the future, the Candidates are the big thing.”Still, the schedule doesn’t leave much room to dwell on it. Pragg is already looking at his next two stops: Clutch Chess in the US, starting on October 27, followed by the Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot in Budapest on November 10.A fever-interrupted Olympics behind him, a title still pending, Praggnanandhaa feels his story has just begun.