"Praggnanandhaa and Vishwanathan Anand are about the same level"- Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk
Russian Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk clinched the Open Blitz title of the Tata Chess India 2023 in Kolkata on Saturday. Grischuk was the oldest player in the tournament at 39, but he defeated several top young players to win the title at Kolkata's National Library.
After the win, Grischuk and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave attended the press conference. They spoke about the tournament experience and the recently concluded FIDE Chess World Cup. The Russian Grandmaster praised Praggnanandhaa and his recent performance in the FIDE Chess World Cup.
"Incredible player. Judging by the form and his career so far, I would say that," he said.
Grischuk and Vachier-Lagrave were later joined by Praggnanandhaa and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the press conference. The Russian Grandmaster went on to add how each of them is capable of becoming the World Champions.
"Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek, Gukesh and everyone here are all supposed to be World Champions, but problem is there can be only one world champion. Also, there is some weird guy called Magnus. It will be exciting years for chess I believe", he said.
When asked about playing against young players, Grischuk mentioned that Vishwanathan Anand and Praggnanandhaa are on the same level and are strong players.
"I can tell you that there is not a big difference between playing Vishy (Vishwanathan Anand) or Pragg (Praggnanandhaa). They are very strong players. I mean, they are about the same level," he said.
Recently, in an interview with Sportstar, he spoke about all-time chess greats. Grischuk said that Anand is one of the top five greatest players of all time. He added Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov to the list.
Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh D were felicitated by their school
After finishing third in the Tata Steel Chess India tournament in Kolkata, Praggnanandhaa flew back to Chennai. There, he was felicitated along with fellow teen chess prodigy Gukesh D for their recent accomplishments.
Gukesh recently became India's No.1 by displacing five-time World Champion Vishwanathan Anand from the top spot. This is the first time since 1986 that Anand has lost the top spot.
Praggnanandhaa had an impressive run in the FIDE Chess World Cup, finishing second, where he also qualified for the Candidates Tournament.
Earlier, during the press conference of Tata Steel Chess India, Praggnanandhaa said there are no plans for the Candidates Tournament as he has been busy with back-to-back tournaments.
"I have no plans yet. I have been playing tournaments right after the World Cup. So I don't have (time)," he said.