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Russian Grandmaster Svidler to be by Pragg’s side as ‘second’ at Candidates
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa debuts at Candidates tournament with Peter Svidler as coach, aiming to challenge for World Chess Championship.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa will debut at the Candidates tournament in Toronto on April 4 (Friday) with modern great and eight-time Russian chess champion Peter Svidler by his side, according to people aware of the matter.
The former world No.4, who has played three Candidates tournaments and won the World Cup in 2011, is now working as the 18-year-old Indian’s coach and primary second.
Hiring the services of a legend and one of the finest modern thinkers of the game is a major fillip for Praggnanandhaa, a prodigy who has taken the game by storm over the past couple of years.
The Russian grandmaster and commentator flew to Chennai for a preparatory camp with the young Indian a few weeks ago, the said people said, adding that their association may extend beyond the Candidates — the eight-player tournament which will decide the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The event will be held between April 3 and 22.
A second’s role in chess ranges from helping a player with opening preparation, delving deep into databases and looking for paths and plans to dismantle opponents, and acting as a sounding board and sparring partner.
They are typically picked by players based on their domain expertise and are expected to combine computer assistance with practical strengths and know-how.
Praggnanandhaa will be one of three Indians competing in the Open section of Candidates, with 29-year-old Vidit Gujrathi and 17-year-old D Gukesh (who is also the youngest player in this year’s tournament) for company. Gukesh and Gujrathi are being assisted by two former seconds of five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand — Grzegorz Gajewski and Surya Sekhar Ganguly, respectively.
Praggnanandhaa will be accompanied by his older sister, 22-year-old R Vaishali, who will feature in the Women’s section, with her coach Sandipan Chanda, also a former second to Anand. Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali are the first brother-sister Grandmaster pair as well as the first brother-sister in history to play the Candidates.
It is unclear who’s assisting 37-year-old Koneru Humpy, the other Indian player in the Women’s section.
Svidler was approached for the role following the World Cup in August 2023, where Praggnanandhaa finished runner-up after losing to world No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the final, a performance that earned the teen a spot in the Candidates.
The 47-year-old Russian had also participated in last year’s World Cup. He previously served as second to Vladimir Kramnik during the latter’s 2004 World Championship win. More recently, Svidler was second to Russian-born Kirill Alekseenko during the 2020 pandemic edition of the Candidates, which was played over two halves.
Svidler is an interesting choice of a second for Praggnanandhaa.
The Russian is famed for being an excellent tactician and the world’s leading expert on the Grunfeld — among Black’s most fierce defence to 1.d4 which is about unbalanced positions and sharp tactics.
Svidler speaks excellent English for someone who grew up in Russia, gaining mastery over the language by voraciously reading more books in English than in his mother tongue.
A former pupil of the legendary Botvinnik-Kasparov school, Svidler first broke into the top 10 in 1998 and touched a peak Elo of 2769 in 2013 at the age of 36.
Svidler is certain to make for great company with his self-deprecating humour and a smorgasbord of interests – cricket, poker, snooker and reading, among a raft of others. These attributes and facets in a coach/second can be particularly helpful for a teenaged Praggnanandhaa through punishing, long, high-stakes tournaments as he blossoms into an even stronger player.
Though his coach, noted Indian grandmaster RB Ramesh, has played a significant role as mentor over the years, it was perhaps time for a former top-five player like Svidler, who brings vast experience in elite chess, to join the team as a key figure as Praggnanandhaa grows in ambition.
Apart from their tactical and technical inputs, seconds form a key part of a chess player’s inner circle, often doubling as an emotional anchor.
Chess players can end up spending an inordinate amount of time with their coach/second and it can be a good thing to have a strong player with a genial personality and a light-hearted, modest air, especially on bad days – more so for someone as young as Praggnanadhaa, navigating the choppy waters of top-flight competition.
He is currently ranked No 14 in the world and is the second youngest player, behind fellow Indian D Gukesh, at the Candidates. They go up against a fairly stacked field that features two of the world’s top three players – Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura.
Known for his terrific calculation, Praggnanandhaa has had quite the breakthrough run lately. He was briefly India’s No 1 chess player in January after he defeated reigning world champion Ding Liren at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk Aan Zee. With that win, he surpassed Anand on the live ratings and subsequently went on to have a run of 47 unbeaten games in classical chess.
Indeed, Praggnanandhaa is perhaps currently among the most popular players in the Indian sporting landscape, recognisable by name, face and exploits.
