"I don't think it's right to call this tournament a bad one," Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa says as he talks to ESPN a little over a week after the conclusion of the biggest tournament he's played yet.
At the FIDE Candidates, Praggnanandhaa finished fifth in a field that contained the best players in the world. "It was a good tournament in a way. For the first time in the Candidates, it was good," he says.
Going into the tournament, he was world no. 14 and three of the four who finished above him were nos. 2, 3 and 7 (the only one ranked below him was eventual winner and good friend, Dommaraju Gukesh). Oh, and that #7 was two-time Candidates winner Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Praggnanandhaa was one of a record five Indians (out of 16 across Open and Women's) to play at the Candidates, four of them making their debut in Canada. He calls that an "amazing feeling," adding, "To play alongside my sister [Vaishali Rambabu] is also a great feeling."
"It was a good experience," he says of the tournament. "Especially, the games were very interesting. There was a lot of play, so I could learn a lot from those games. I think I played much better than my results show. But sometimes, yeah, you don't get what you should get. [But] that's fair." He enjoyed the games and the hard work put in preparation both pre-game and pre-tournament. "I kept trying to give my best," he says. "Most of the games I managed. It didn't go my way, but it's part of the game. I have been at many bad tournaments in my journey."
And what a journey it has been already for the 18-year-old. Take for example his qualification route to the Candidates -- taking down aforementioned world nos 2 and 3, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura at the 2023 Chess World Cup, and reaching the final against the GOAT, Magnus Carlsen.
Praggnanandhaa, though, says the World Cup had little bearing on the Candidates: "It is a knockout, and it is a different format. I won't compare it to that."
This video is just 2 seconds but shows the wonderful moment of Praggnanandhaa congratulating Gukesh at the closing ceremony of the FIDE Candidates 2024.
It's a great time to be an Indian chess fan. Sometimes it is Pragg, sometimes Gukesh, sometimes Vidit, sometimes Arjun,... pic.twitter.com/6BsJjZcYTM
- ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) April 29, 2024
Where the Candidates is different is in how long it is, how only a handful of the best players get into it, and how there is no prize for anyone but the winner: outside the World Championships, there isn't a bigger, higher-pressure event in the sport. Praggnanandhaa acknowledges it, "I was feeling the heat just before the first game when I went and sat on the board," he says.
Not that it lasted long, though. "But it went away after the game actually started. I was feeling the same way I would feel in a normal tournament. Saying that, there was pressure and tension, but I think it was because it is just normal. I don't think I felt any extra pressure because of the fans or the press. That was not there," he says matter-of-factly. "I think I took it as a normal tournament and did what I usually do."
If you didn't know who was doing the talking, you might have called it arrogance - dismissing the pressure of such an elite event so lightly - but this is what Praggnanandhaa does. Put a chessboard in front of him and he'll get at it regardless of where he is. "Obviously, it matters who you are playing," he says with a quiet laugh, "but other things don't matter."
But if given a chance, what would he change about the way he approached the tournament, and played it? "It would not be losing three games," he says, before qualifying it: "those three games were played under different circumstances. I also missed some chances to put more pressure on my opponents. There was a game with Ian [Nepomniachtchi] which I missed my chance." The game he's referring to happened in round 5, where Praggnanandhaa had a great position that Nepomniachtchi somehow managed to salvage a draw from: it's the fine margins that make all the difference at the very top.
"Those moments, maybe if I would have tried a bit more," he says, "or maybe my opening choice and stuff like that. Maybe if I was more practical, I would have been better."
That doesn't mean he went all out every game, he says, but he wanted to make sure he brought some fight with him every time. "If a fight comes with either colour, I was happy to take it. And I got many fighting positions, and I also got chances as well."
He isn't wallowing in the what-could-have-been, though. He's never done that. "I think I am good in that area - to recover from a game," he says. "The main thing for me is if I feel like I didn't give my best or I didn't try too hard, then I kind of feel more annoyed. But if I, let's say, lost a winning position or something, I am upset for a few minutes. I think I can recover from that because I know that it doesn't happen usually. It's just a one-off thing and I am playing good quality chess. I am giving my best. So, it shouldn't worry me too much. I feel it's more of a mindset thing." (Incidentally, that's his advice to budding chess players too -- have fun, and don't worry about losing games... "give your best and don't worry too much about the outcome")
Back in India now, he's honouring commitments with his corporate sponsors, like the Adani Group, and unwinding from the grind of the Candidates. Outside of casual chess discussions with fellow GM and sister Vaishali ("they just happen spontaneously"), he's been turning his attention to other sports. "I watch cricket," he says. "I mean, I follow cricket. Recently, I have started also following badminton. In general, I try to read about all sports."
Does he have a favourite there? "It changes from time to time. Right now, I like Virat Kohli. I guess it's an obvious answer for many," he says. "But for me, it's because of how aggressive he is during the match and how much he dedicates to the game: like the fitness."
Quiet, unassuming Praggnanandhaa's favourite being the definition of the hyper-aggressive alpha-athlete may sound jarring, but he identifies the common thread between them - the rigour that it takes to be an elite athlete at the very top.
Part of that rigour is now moving on, taking it one tournament at a time like he always does. The next Candidates will now be in 2026, the two-year World Championship cycle resetting now, but Praggnanandhaa is not thinking about that yet. "That's a long way still," he says. "It just got over; it will be too much to look at another one already."
"Besides," he adds with a smile, "it's not guaranteed I will make it so. I have to first qualify."