Russian Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov delivered a scathing assessment of R Praggnanandhaa’s form at the Candidates 2026 tournament and described the Indian prodigy as a “bleak shadow” of his earlier self. Praggnanandhaa was beaten by Sindarov and is completely out of contention, as he remains on four points after his third loss in the tournament.
“Pragg was on the rise, and just now it’s like he’s a bleak shadow of what we saw a couple of years ago,” Kasparov said during a conversation with the St Louis Chess Club.
However, when grandmaster Yasser Seirawan described Pragg’s play as “stale” and lacking “fresh ideas,” Kasparov brutally added: “Stale is a very good word. Something is missing… the kind of spice of the game. It’s still top, top quality, but definitely not enough to actually beat your peers at that level.”
While Sindarov’s is now set to challenge India’s Gukesh D for the World Championship, Kasparov stated he would prefer a different matchup.
“You know my views about World Championship matches since Magnus (Carlsen) is not playing. So, I would love to see a Sindarov versus Carlsen match. That would be the real match for me that’s worth the title.”
READ: Why Praggnanandhaa Is Struggling
“It will be interesting because a World Championship match is a match. If we are talking about a hypothetical Gukesh vs Sindarov match, Gukesh is very, very stable and I would be very surprised if it’s not close.”
“A match has different dynamics, different logic. Provided he wins the Candidates, it will be interesting to see how Sindarov handles his new status,” he concluded.
