How D Gukesh And Arjun Erigaisi Inspired And Pressured R Praggnanandhaa: Since D Gukesh’s World Championship win in December last year, Indian chess has been on fire in global tournaments.
India’s New Era of Chess Dominance:
Right after Gukesh’s victory over Ding Liren, Koneru Humpy went on to win the 2024 FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship. Fast forward to July 2025, and it was another all-Indian final as Divya Deshmukh claimed the FIDE Women’s World Cup title, defeating Humpy.
Right now, D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Arjun Erigaisi are leading the charge for India on the world stage.
R Praggnanandhaa at the Top
R Praggnanandhaa, currently India’s No. 1 player, is also one of the world’s top Grandmasters. He turned 20 just this past Sunday and has enjoyed a strong season, including winning the Tata Masters after beating Gukesh in a tense tie-breaker final.
Recently, R Praggnanandhaa appeared on a YouTube podcast and spoke about his struggles last year when he could not match the performances of Gukesh or Arjun Erigaisi. That was the year Gukesh became World Champion and Arjun crossed the 2800 Elo rating, making him only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to achieve it.
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Admitting Past Insecurities
R Praggnanandhaa admitted that in the past, he sometimes felt insecure when players from his generation outperformed him.
“No, not right now. But I guess in the past (they did),” he said.
Finding Inspiration in Rivals:
When asked to name who made him feel that way, R Praggnanandhaa replied, “Just the players from my generation, whenever they were doing (well) it was putting some pressure on me, I mean I was putting pressure on myself, but I started seeing them as inspiration… now whenever they do well, I get this extra motivation. I want to push myself. It doesn’t come as a pressure but as an inspiration and I want to do well.”
“Mostly (players) from my generation. Let’s say Gukesh or Arjun (Erigaisi) do well. Or Nodirbek (Abdusattarov). When they do well, I feel like I can do it as well. So I tried to put pressure on myself which is not a good thing. I mean getting inspired from them is a different thing. Nowadays, I am better at it because last year I did not have a great year while Gukesh won the world championship, Arjun crossed 2800. All these things just inspired me so much. I was seeing their games so closely, trying to understand. It inspired me and I think that’s one of the reasons I feel that extra energy I have when I play games nowadays. That inspiration that comes from them,” he added.
These days, though, R Praggnanandhaa says that mindset has shifted. “When you just want to give your best and not worry about the results, I do not think there is anything to be worried about.”
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