Last fortnight we had a look at Vidit Gujrathi’s phenomenal year, this week let's have a look at Gen Z: R. Praggnanandhaa, and D. Gukesh. Or should we call them Gen G: The Golden Generation?
R. Praggnanandhaa:
Pragg’s game is characterised by strong opening preparation, the ability to handle dynamics and imbalances well, and an acute sense of initiative. He is aided by his exceptional calculation skills, achieved through years of specific work in this direction, and the self-confidence to take on the best in the world without fear. His training methods since his formative years include calculation and imagination training with the help of training positions ( puzzles taken from real games or analysis ) and “Studies” ( puzzles that are composed specifically for this purpose), playing training games and Blitz (speed chess) with his training partners under the tutelage of Dronacharya Awardee Grandmaster RB Ramesh whose chess academy is aptly named Chess ‘Gurukul’. Having a strong player like Vaishali as a sibling is a bonus as they often discuss Opening Theory and approaches. An extroverted yet extremely grounded person, Pragg’s career graph has seen a steady upward trend ever since he was recognised as a talent to watch out for back in 2016. He qualified for the Candidates tournament by finishing as the runner-up in the Chess World Cup last year, losing only to Magnus Carlsen in the Finals, a feat that was widely viewed by millions of Indian fans. Let’s have a look at his game against the reigning Women’s World Champion Ju Wenjun, from earlier this year, played at the Tata Steel Masters. Wenjun is a 4 time Women’s World Champion.
R. Praggnanandhaa vs. Ju Wenjun |
Pragg, playing White in this game, handled an imbalanced position out of the opening with clarity and zeal. Here in the diagram position, he has a substantial advantage, yet it is often said that one of the most difficult tasks in chess is “to win a won game”. It is White’s turn to play. Pragg’s Rook, Queen, and Bishop attack the g7 point around Black’s King but at the moment it is safely defended by the Black Queen on d7 and Black Knight on h5. Pragg played 1.Nd6 in this position, voluntarily bringing one more Black piece to the g7 pawn’s defence, as Black is forced to reply with 1…Re7. Black could not move the rook away from the ‘e’ file as the e6 bishop would then be hanging. White’s next move was 2.Qh2 !! a backward move attacking the black knight on h5.
Now Black’s position collapses. If she plays 2…Bf7, supporting the Knight, White goes for the “combination” : 3. Re7 Qe7 4. Bg7! Ng7 5. Rg7 Kg7 6. Nf5 Check, and it’s a fork as it also attacks the Black Queen on e7! 2..g6 doesn’t work either as the ‘g’ pawn is under a pin by the Rook on g1 so white will simply pick up the h5 Knight with his Queen.
The game continued 2..Nf6 3. Qh6 (note that the ‘g’ pawn is pinned!) Qd6 4. Bf6. 1-0. Black resigned as White threatens 5. Rg7 as well as 5. Be7 on the next move and it is impossible to defend against both the threats at once.
D. Gukesh
Gukesh’s journey has been very different from Pragg’s though both of them are child prodigies from the same era and the same city! In 2019, Gukesh became one of the youngest Grandmasters in the World at the age of 12, having never used a Chess engine during his preparation until then! This is a highly unusual approach as opening preparation and Chess analysis have been heavily dependent on computers and AI for the past 2 decades. However, his coach Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna felt that staying away from a chess engine’s perspective would help Guki develop his own perspective on the game. A side effect of avoiding a computer’s assistance for training would many a times result in Gukesh ending up with worse positions out of the opening phase, but he would handle the resulting positions well and go on to outplay his opponents. After all, Chess is played by Humans and not computers! As such his self-confidence and self-reliance grew, and he learnt to “play the position”, handle what came. He developed strong calculation skills and attentiveness in the process. Even though, the post-2020 Gukesh has started working with the computer engine while training, the fruits of his courage are now a permanent part of his character. Resourcefulness, quiet confidence, and a firm resolve are second nature to Gukesh. Add to this an unending hunger to simply play chess! Gukesh has played one of the maximum number of tournaments and his growth to becoming a 2700-rated player, i.e. the crème-de-la-crème of the chess world, occurred after playing and winning Open events, not invitationals! Again, an unusual journey. But Champions are often pioneers. No wonder that Gukesh reached as high as World No. 8 last year when he was hardly 17. At 18, he is the youngest player in the Candidates this year, 1 year younger than Pragg. Here’s a puzzle from his game against World no. 2 Fabiano Caruana from the Chennai Chess Olympiad 2022, where Guki had the Black pieces.
Q: It is Black’s turn to play in the diagram position. What will you play?
Fabiano Caruana vs. D. Gukesh |
