Camaraderie among the members of the Indian squad will help in the Olympiad title defence, Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa said while expressing confidence of a strong show.

The 20-year-old said the team was strong and had the experience to handle the pressure of being the defending champion. He said the core of the team from the winning campaign in 2024 was same time except for Nihal Sarin replacing P. Harikrishna.

“I think we are all very good friends. Being friends helps a lot when you are playing a team event like the Olympiad,” he told The Hindu on the sidelines of an event at D.G. Vaishnav College here.

Asked if there would be huge pressure on India as the title-holder, Praggnanandhaa said, “there will always be pressure when you are representing the country. You want to do well. It’s not about pressure from outside. It’s more of an expectation from yourself that you will do well. We have experienced all this and are ready.”

Backing Gukesh

About World champion D. Gukesh’s below-par performances since winning the sport’s biggest prize, Praggnanandhaa said, “he has won gold (board prize) and been part of a victorious Olympiad campaign. I don’t know who else has done these things.”

“He has shown that he belongs at the top. Sometimes everyone has these bad phases. I think this is just one of those,” he added.

He expected the home team Uzbekistan with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh’s challenger Javokhir Sindarov in the line-up, to be among the teams to beat in the Olympiad.

A draw was enough for Alireza Firouzja in the seventh and final round of the Chennai Grand Masters on Wednesday as the Frenchman walked away with the title in a strong field.

Firouzja’s 41-move stalemate also ended his opponent Arjun Erigaisi’s chances of fighting for first place. The loss suffered by Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the hands of Dmitry Andreikin (Russia) cleared the path for Firouzja as the 23-year-old emerged champion with 4.5 points.

Andreikin proved to be the surprise packet, taking the runner-up spot with four points after remaining unbeaten (six draws and one win).

Firouzja, who didn’t lose a game through the week, received ₹25 lakh for his title-winning effort while Arjun took the third spot, followed by Abdusattorov and M. Pranesh. World champion D. Gukesh held Hans Niemann to a draw and finished with the wooden spoon (two points).

He narrowly avoided slipping out of the 2700-club, thanks to the stalemate against his American opponent; the 20-year-old, who had lost his previous two games, settled for a quick draw as the contest ended in 19 moves.

Nihal Sarin, who began with four straight draws, appeared to lose steam towards the business end and wound up with 3.5 points despite a well-crafted win against Arjun in the penultimate round. The fifth-place finish was a creditable performance by Pranesh, the lowest-rated player in the event who handed Gukesh a shock defeat.

The results: D. Gukesh 2 drew with Hans Niemann (USA) 3; Nihal Sarin 3.5 drew with M. Pranesh 3.5; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 4.5 drew with Arjun Erigaisi 4; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 4 beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 3.5.

Final placings: 1. Firouzja, 2. Andreikin, 3. Arjun, 4. Abdusattorov, 5. Pranesh, 6. Nihal, 7. Niemann, 8. Gukesh.

It is not every day that you beat a reigning World champion, and that too from a losing position!

M. Pranesh, playing with white pieces, bounced back after finding himself in trouble to shock D. Gukesh in the sixth round of the Chennai Grand Masters at The Westin Chennai on Tuesday.

The 39-move victory for the 19-year-old pushed his tally to three points while his compatriot stayed at the bottom with 1.5 points.

Overnight joint leader Arjun Erigaisi went down to Nihal Sarin in 61 moves while France’s Alireza Firouzja was back in sole lead following a draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.

Gukesh, whose struggles seem to be multiplying with each passing game and tournament, continued to sink further. It was his third defeat in the tournament.

The loss to Pranesh, the lowest-rated player here, saw his live rating dip to 2702.9 and he’s in danger of slipping out of the elite 2700-club if he meets a similar fate against American Hans Niemann in Wednesday’s final round.

For the second straight day, Gukesh let slip a winning position and allowed his opponent an opening. Pranesh didn’t let go of the opportunity offered on a platter.

Pranesh, who has been playing Gukesh since his younger days, said he was confident on the day and added beating the World champion was the best win of his career.

He also felt the pressure of being the World champion was probably affecting Gukesh’s play.

The results (sixth round): Hans Niemann (USA) 2.5 drew with Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) 3, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 3.5 drew with Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 4, Arjun Erigaisi 3.5 lost to Nihal Sarin 3, M. Pranesh 3 bt D. Gukesh 1.5.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov has good memories of Chennai. He was at the forefront of Uzbekistan’s spectacular run in the chess Olympiad in nearby Mamallapuram in 2022, with his defeat of D. Gukesh on the top board ensuring the gold for his team.

Abdusattorov is back in the city for the Chennai Grand Masters tournament and is more than happy to return. The 21-year-old Uzbek, who is part of a group of rising stars from the Central Asian republic, said he was looking forward to the match against the World champion but wasn’t focussing only on it.

“This tournament is very short. In some rounds, anything can happen, because it’s a very young field,” the former World Rapid champion said in an interaction.

Abdusattorov has slipped under the radar in recent times with his compatriot Javokhir Sindarov stealing the spotlight with a triumph in last year’s World Cup in Goa before dominating the field in the Candidates to set up a World championship match against Gukesh.

He said he would help Sindarov in his preparation for the title clash. “I had joined his training camp for a week before the Candidates. For the upcoming World championship match, for sure, I will be part of his team. I will be training with him. From my perspective, he’s my friend, he’s close to me, and I will do my best to help him,” Abdusattorov said.

It is not common for chess players to have friendships, especially with rivals, but the young Uzbek superstars seem to be different.

The Abdusattorov-Sindarov friendship could be crucial as Uzbekistan aims to win the Olympiad gold to be held back home in Samarkand.

Alireza Firouzja got off to a winning start, dismantling M. Pranesh in a longish game, at the Chennai Grand Masters chess tournament at Hotel Westin Velachery on Thursday.

The Frenchman, entering the event in good nick after a title-winning run in the Grand Chess Tour-Croatia leg, wore down the young Indian in a 79-move game. He had to dig deep as the match went into the fifth hour before taking the point with black pieces. The Frenchman emerged with a slight edge from a Sicilian Defence before Pranesh’s 36th move allowed him a breakthrough.

The 23-year-old Firouzja was the only winner on the opening day as World champion D. Gukesh was held by compatriot Nihal Sarin while Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the highest-rated player in the tournament, split the point with USA’s Hans Moke Niemann and local hope Arjun Erigaisi shared honours with Russian Dmitry Andreikin.

Abdusattorov held firm despite coming under pressure from Niemann for a major part of the game.

The Gukesh-Nihal encounter saw the former, playing with white pieces, finding himself in time trouble in the middle before emerging unscathed. The Chennai GM, playing in the city for the first time since his epochal triumph, ensured a stalemate in 47 moves once he neutralised Nihal’s advantage.

Arjun and Andreikin signed the peace treaty after 42 moves. The Russian found counter-play against the exposed white king and forced a draw through a succession of queen checks.

The results (first round): Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) drew with Hans Niemann (USA), Arjun Erigaisi drew with Dmitry Andreikin (Rus), M. Pranesh lost to Alireza Firouzja (Fra), D. Gukesh drew with Nihal Sarin.