Malinda Words: A stroll with Pragg and Arjun along a boulevard in Baku

['The Morning Inspection' is the title of a column I wrote for the Daily News from 2009 to 2011, one article a day, Monday through Saturday. This is the 201st article in the new series that began in December 2022. Links to previous articles are given below]

As I write, Arjun Erigaisi, the 19 year old Indian Grand Master (GM) has failed to make it to the semi-final of the Chess World Cup 2023 currently underway in Baku, Azerbaijan. Rameshbabu ‘Pragg’ Praggnanandhaa, the 18 year old Indian GM who defeated Arjun, having drawn both the classical games against Fabiano Caruana, the Italian and American GM, currently ranked second in the world, moves into the tie-break games in the shorter format.

By the time you read this Pragg may have made the finals where he would meet World No 1 Magnus Carlsen (who relinquished the World Champion title he had held for 10 years) who defeated GM Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan 1.5-0.5. Even if he fails, he has already booked a place in the Candidates Tournament and with it a chance to take on GM Ding Liren of China for the world title in April 2024 in Toronto, Canada.

Pragg and Arjun are both chess prodigies, the former having secured his GM title at the age of 12 and the latter when he was 14. They have long careers ahead of them and are bound to shine at the very top one day. We will have to wait on that potential rivalry.

Their quarter-final was an epic, Pragg prevailing after nine games. What was even more epic was something that happened before they had even started the first game.

Irene Sukandar, a commentator of the World Cup, had taken a stroll and had come across Pragg and Arjun who apparently shared her views on relaxation. So there they were, two incredibly talented and strong chess players taking a walk together hours before they would cross swords across 64 squares to win the right to move to the next stage, the semi-final, of the Chess World Cup 2023.

Irene takes a selfie. All smiles. Arjun, slightly taller and slightly older, has an arm around Pragg’s shoulders. Big-brotherly.

Chess Base India commented on this chance encounter as follows:

‘There is so much to learn from Arjun and Pragg's behaviour. We are pretty sure that when they sit opposite the board against each other, they will not leave any stone unturned in fighting it out until the bitter end. But off the board they remain great friends and nothing can come in between that friendship - not even a spot in the Candidates!’

This is not uncommon among sporting rivals. Off the board or off the court, they become different people or, put another way, revert to their non-competitive selves. There’s always respect and for the most part there’s friendship as well. We see this in all sports. And we see sporting personalities putting aside friendship when they actually compete.
 Venus and Serena Williams are as close as sisters can be, but they always brought on their A Game when facing each other on the tennis court. They met 31 times between 1998 and 2020, Serena winning 19 of those matches. They met in 15 Grand Slam matches including 11 finals. They competed against each other in 9 Grand Slam tournaments, Serena winning seven of them. This included four consecutive finals (French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2022 and the 2023 Australian Open), Serena prevailing in all of them.

There was always the customary after-game hug, smiles and a few words. The loser chins-up, swallowing disappointment as best he or she can. The winner is gracious. All that is easy. It’s not difficult to be buddies off the court or board. Sportsmen and sportswomen do meet up for a meal. They text each other. They tweet congratulatory messages about each other.

But just before a close-to-career-defining moment? That’s rare. We could put it down to both Pragg and Arjun being from the same country. We could put it down to the fact they are almost the same age and have probably known each other through many age-group events.

Still.

When two players can abstract themselves from an impending fight, when two players can abstract themselves from their friendship, it does say something about focus, on shelving that which could scar the moment, pushing aside that which could distract. Maybe that’s why both these young men have achieved so much success so quickly in their careers.

That’s a chess lesson. That’s a sports lesson. Outside of it, however, I like to think there’s a deeper human lesson as well.

For now, let’s celebrate friendship and chess.

For now, let’s say, ‘Thanks Pragg and Arjun for all the great moments including the one captured by Irene Sukandar.’

21 August 2023

A stroll with Pragg and Arjun along a boulevard in Baku

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