HOPE PRAGG CAN BE WORLD CHAMP IN 3 TO 5 YRS: RAMESH

CHESS Gurukul is based out of a two a part bedroom ment in T Nagar. 

- INDRANEEL DAS

For an academy that has produced hundreds of age group chess champions, including a chess prodigy - R Praggnanandhaa-its existence is almost lost in the multitude of buildings in the vicinity. There's nothing that cries for attention. The academy is on the first floor and like all places that are sacred, one has to take off the footwear before entering. Coach RB Ramesh ushered us in.

There was a sense of pride in his voice whenever he spoke about his ward Praggnanandhaa. The World Cup has been one of those gratifying moments and in fact, he revealed during the conversation, they were not expecting it to go this far. But like he says "Pragg is almost playing perfect chess". Excerpts

You want Pragg to be independent. Can a chess player be independent at the age of 16 or 17 or does it take a lot of effort?

It takes a tremendous amount of effort. That's why most people are not able to do this. It happened in 2021 when Pragg was playing in Tata Steel Masters, one of the strongest annual events in the world. Even Pragg was invited and I accompanied him. We were supposed to stay in the same room. He was like 15 or 16. And I got COVID, the day I reached and I was quarantined in a different room and he was forced to stay alone. He eats vegetarian food and it's not easily accessible. Usually we cook and eat. So he had to learn cooking on his own and commute to the playing hall.

It was the first time he was doing it and it's happening in the middle of a major event. So this adaptation, I felt, could affect his performance, but he coped very well. We had Zoom calls or whatsapp calls to guide him. But he handled the pressure. I thought this is the direction we should take because I'm also growing old and cannot be with him forever.