Bengaluru: The identity of a top player’s team of seconds is perhaps one of the most closely guarded secrets in chess. On Monday, however, R Praggnanandhaa decided to break convention and reveal his extended team as a mark of gratitude days after his remarkable charge to the Norway Chess title with four classical wins in a row.
His long-time coach and mentor, RB Ramesh, shared a photograph on X from a training camp held ahead of this year’s Candidates tournament with a shout out to Pragg’s extended team members.
The image featured the familiar faces of Praggnanandhaa, his known second Vaibhav Suri, sister R Vaishali, and Ramesh. But it also revealed previously unknown members of the setup: French grandmasters Joseph Girel and Mahel Boyer, both in their early twenties, who have been part of the Indian star’s preparation team.
“After his Norway Chess win, Pragg thanked his family and the known members of his team – Vaibhav and I. He really wanted to thank Joseph and Mahel publicly rightaway I suppose, but held back,” Ramesh told HT on Monday. “We later discussed it and agreed that it would be nice to acknowledge them for the work they’ve been putting in for close to two years now. The original plan was not to name them until after the World Championship, if Pragg qualified for it. Since that didn’t happen and the next Candidates tournament is still some way off, and with the Norway Chess win, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I spoke to Joseph and Mahel and they were okay with being named. They’re young, super hardworking and deserve due credit.”
Ramesh met Joseph during a training camp he conducted in Italy a couple of years ago. He was an International Master then. “He was a participant in the camp and I was impressed with his ideas and how he was faring. I discussed about him with Pragg. We were thinking of adding young members to the team at the time. Pragg had already worked with big names so we wanted to try working with lesser-known ones. After the camp, I tracked how Joseph was doing and once he became a grandmaster (in 2024) I asked him if he would want to work for team Pragg. He agreed rightaway and also recommended Mahel as a team member. The great thing with having young players on the team is that they’re hungry for success because they believe they have a lot to prove and they also come with zero baggage.”
“Huge thanks to Mahel and Joseph for their incredible work! Both of them have played a big role in preparation in the last two years! Thank you so much guys!!” Praggnanandhaa wrote on X.
Suri describes Praggnanandhaa’s decision to acknowledge Joseph and Mahel publicly as “super cool”.
“These are guys who work behind-the-scenes and it’s great that they are being named. It’s not like people can go look at my or their games and figure out the ideas we come up with. I suppose all three of us are evolving as players and seconds,” Suri told HT.
Praggnanandhaa’s second win against world No.1 Magnus Carlsen with Black in Round 8 of Norway Chess came off the French Defense. On move 5, Praggnanandhaa pulled out a surprise with Nh6, a fairly new idea. Carlsen spent over twenty minutes coming up with a response. Praggnanandhaa had employed the French in the Candidates tournament earlier this year as well.
Suri jokes at the suggestion of it being a giveaway of the team composition. “We came up with a lot of ideas for the Candidates, some of it was unused and the one in the French that he played against Magnus was one of them. I was literally pleading with Pragg to play it. Magnus spent a lot of time in the opening and Pragg ended up being over an hour ahead on the clock inside the first 14 moves. Pragg might play it down at times but to beat Magnus twice and finish ahead of him in a tournament is definitely a big deal for all of us in the team.”
Suri points out that both Joseph and Mahel bring a burst of “energy and ideas” to Team Pragg.
“Also, they’re closer to Pragg’s age. When we met in Chennai for the pre-Candidates camp, we would play badminton together or hit the gym when we had time off from sessions. Since both are French, their love for cheese is a given I suppose. When they visited India, they were fascinated with cheese naans.”
