Archive · 29 Aug 2026
Praggnanandhaa Says He Would Accept India’s Reserve Role
India’s best chess players recently trained together before the upcoming Olympiad.
The training camp lasted five days.
Srinath Narayanan shared pictures showing the players enjoying the camp.
Anish Giri jokingly asked what they studied and who would play on the first board.
The first board is usually a very important position on a team.
Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi are all being considered for it.
Praggnanandhaa said he would be fine serving as a reserve player instead.
This means India still has a friendly debate about which player should lead the team.
Praggnanandhaa said he would not mind being a reserve player for India at the upcoming Olympiad.
India held a five-day pre-Olympiad camp featuring members of its top chess generation.
Srinath Narayanan shared photographs from the camp on X, highlighting the team spirit.
Anish Giri asked about the camp’s daily schedule, opening preparation and board-one choice.
Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi are identified as contenders for India’s first board.
- Who
- Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi are contenders for India’s first board; Srinath Narayanan organized or discussed the camp in his post, and Anish Giri commented on it.
- What
- India held a five-day pre-Olympiad chess camp, while players and observers debated who should play board one.
- When
- The photographs were posted on Saturday afternoon; the camp took place over the preceding few days.
- Where
- The location of the camp is not specified; photographs were posted on X.
- Why
- The board-one position is being debated because India has at least three contenders.
- Event
- India’s pre-Olympiad chess camp
- Camp length
- Five days
- Board-one contenders
- Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi
- Post author
- Srinath Narayanan
- Commenter
- Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri
- Praggnanandhaa’s position
- He does not mind being a reserve player
- Upcoming competition
- The Olympiad