As R Praggnanandhaa scales new heights, Anand believes D Gukesh must look to his rival for inspiration

Viswanathan Anand compared R Praggnanandhaa to D Gukesh, and felt that the reigning world champion could take some inspiration from the Norway Chess winner.

Viswanathan Anand feels that R Praggnanandhaa is currently in better form than D Gukesh, after the former's Norway Chess triumph. Praggnanandhaa recently became the first Indian chess player to clinch the Norway chess title, and reigning world champion D Gukesh came sixth.

R Praggnanandhaa clinched the Norway Chess title and D Gukesh came sixth. (Twitter)

Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer in the final round to finish his campaign on top of the standings. This was the Indian GM's second appearance at Norway Chess. In this year's campaign, he also beat Magnus Carlsen twice in classical chess.

Speaking to PTI, Anand said, "I am delighted that Praggnanandhaa has won Norway Chess in an impressive style. I am very happy at the spectacular turnaround (he made) in the last four rounds. He is playing the game with some amazingly impressive concepts and style."

Urging Gukesh to take inspiration from his fellow countryman, Anand continued, "At this moment, Praggnanandhaa is playing better than Gukesh but anything can change. I think there will be form swings repeatedly. Gukesh seems to be stuck a bit. I think he can take inspiration from Pragg."

Analysing Praggnanandhaa's playing style, he said, "Actually, it's the same Pragg in the last one and half years. Sometimes he plays hard and comes out with interesting concepts, and he is always ready for a fight. The results might not always work out."

"In fact, after the first six rounds, you can't see much difference from the last 8 or 9 months (as in how Praggnanandhaa plays). But then there was this great turnaround and that was really nice to see because he played very interesting chess."

For Indian fans, the past few years have been perfect, with the Indians dominating the sport. Other than Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi has been another shining beacon. "We have never had three players at the top and they are pushing each other's game to the highest level. And how far they are from what I did, I don't know," said Anand.

"I have not given it a thought. Chess is changing dynamically. Careers may not last the same duration because the game itself is changing."

Claiming that India was in the top three when it came to comparing countries in chess, Anand remarked, "India is definitely in the top three. We have increased our strength a lot. We have as many as 95 Grandmasters in the country. We have a world champion and we have many players at the top."

"Things are going up for India and now women are joining this movement. Are we replacing Russia? We are certainly one of the top 3, but their dominance has been quite different."