3 min readUpdated: Apr 12, 2026 12:11 AM IST
Chess legend Garry Kasparov has said that Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa has of late looked like a “bleak shadow” of the Pragg we have seen over the last few years. After 10 rounds of the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, Praggnanandhaa finds himself in seventh spot, with exactly half the number of points than tournament leader Javokhir Sindarov, who is a peer of the Indian youngster.
“Pragg was on the rise and just now it’s like he’s a bleak shadow of what we saw a couple of years ago,” Kasparov said with a hint of surprise in his voice in a conversation with the St Louis Chess Club during the 10th round when Praggnanandhaa was facing off against Sindarov. Pragg went on to lose that game, which was his second defeat to the Uzbek prodigy in the tournament in two games, in a result that effectively ended his chances of winning the tournament.
When grandmaster Yasser Seirawan mentioned that Pragg’s play at the Candidates had looked “stale” and that it did not seem like the Indian had “come with fresh ideas,” Kasparov commented: “Stale is a very good word. Something is missing… the kind of spice of the game. It’s still top, top quality, but definitely not enough to actually beat your peers at that level.”
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The defeat to Sindarov just before Friday’s rest day means that Sindarov has put one foot into the World Chess Championship battle against another Indian prodigy: world champion Gukesh Dommaraju.
When Kasparov was asked about the prospect of a Gukesh vs Sindarov World Championship match, Kasparov said: “You know my views about World Championship matches since Magnus (Carlsen) is not playing. So, I would love to see a Sindarov versus Carlsen match. That would be the real match for me that’s worth the title. It will be interesting because a World Championship match is a match. If we are talking about a hypothetical Gukesh vs Sindarov match, Gukesh is very, very stable and I would be very surprised if it’s not close. A match has different dynamics, different logic. Provided he wins the Candidates, it will be interesting to see how Sindarov handles his new status.”
