Arjun Erigaisi Hails R Praggnanandhaa As 'Great Fighter': 'Showed Great Mental Ascent'
Arjun Erigaisi Hails R Praggnanandhaa As 'Great Fighter': 'Showed Great Mental Ascent' Published By, Last Updated: June 10, 2026, 08:14 IST Arjun Erigaisi hails R
Arjun Erigaisi Hails R Praggnanandhaa As 'Great Fighter': 'Showed Great Mental Ascent' Published By, Last Updated: June 10, 2026, 08:14 IST Arjun Erigaisi hails R Praggnanandhaa’s historic Norway Chess win and resilience, downplays Magnus Carlsen’s slump, and starts strongly at the UzChess Cup in Tashkent Indian chess GM R Praggnanandhaa (PTI) Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has praised fellow chess star R Praggnanandhaa for his remarkable victory at Norway Chess, describing his comeback as one of the most impressive displays of resilience in recent memory. Praggnanandhaa made history in Oslo by becoming the first Indian player to win the prestigious tournament, overcoming a difficult situation midway through the event to claim the title. The 19-year-old appeared out of contention after suffering back-to-back defeats and dropping to the bottom of the si player standings.
However, he responded in emphatic fashion, producing four consecutive Classical victories to surge to the top on the final day. The achievement has been widely regarded as one of the biggest milestones for Indian chess since D Gukesh became the youngest world champion in history in 2024. Reflecting on R Praggnanandhaa’s performance, Arjun highlighted the mental strength required to recover from such setbacks. “The last couple of rounds I didn’t follow so closely because I was travelling, but the rest I was following quite closely," Arjun was quoted as saying to ChessBase India during the UzChess Cup in Tashkent. “Pragg showed great mental ascent, losing two in a row, especially that one with Gukesh where he had such a nice position. It’s very tough to recover from such losses, but he showed what a great fighter he is and I’m very happy that his form is back.
I’m sure this confidence will help him get back to good form," he continued. ‘Surprising When Magnus Doesn’t Do Well’ Arjun also downplayed concerns over Magnus Carlsen’s disappointing fourth-place finish at his home tournament. “It is obviously surprising when Magnus doesn’t do well, but these things happen. He wins so many tournaments, so one bad tournament, I think, it’s just one off day," Arjun said. Meanwhile, Arjun has enjoyed a positive start to his own campaign at the UzChess Cup. After opening with a draw, he secured his first victory by defeating defending champion Nodirbek Yakubboev. “Feeling good. It was an interesting game. Especially towards the end, it was very complicated with a lot of tactics to calculate. But I thought I calculated fairly well," Arjun said, reacting to his victory over Yakubboev.
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