Russian grandmaster Daniil Dubov, who sent home India’s R Praggnanandhaa from the FIDE World Cup in the fourth round tiebreaks on Thursday, revealed that he dislikes classical chess so much that he prepared for just 10 minutes for the two classical games against the Indian prodigy, who was a finalist at the last World Cup. Both classical games between Praggnanandhaa and Dubov ended in draws, thus pushing them to fight in the rapid tiebreaks on Thursday, where the former world rapid champion prevailed.
Dubov also said that while Pragg spent “day and night looking at chess he had failed to pose a single problem” to him in their classical games.
“Generally Praggnanandhaa didn’t show his best in this tournament, not only in this match. I would say it was very close but I think I had some little precious role in the match despite the will to make a draw with white pieces. I didn’t actually mind playing. But it’s just that with white against someone like Pragg who is prepared this well I actually don’t know how to get out of the opening like without taking too much risk. So I actually told my friends that this is the strategy: we make draws with white and with black we actually play, because he’s always ambitious with white. The same happened today: it’s not that I was scared or wanted to play blitz so much. It’s just that I kind of realized I will probably have better chances with black in the long run. He tried to play. I think he got outplayed frankly and somehow I managed to deliver. Maybe I played a little bit better, maybe not. Anyway, it’s very much about luck,” Dubov, right after defeating Praggnanandhaa, told FIDE in an interview.
Story continues below this ad
ALSO READ | FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: Praggnanandhaa walks into trap set by Daniil Dubov, knocked out in fourth round; two Indians survive
Daniil Dubov speaks about beating Pragg
INTERACTIVE: How Daniil Dubov beat Pragg
Dubov then continued: “I have to say generally I’m not the biggest fan of classical chess. I like chess a lot and it’s not that I hate thinking. It’s just that with this amount of prep, I don’t even know… like preparing for two classical games against Pragg took me 10 minutes with the phone all together. I didn’t even use my laptop. Then I did it for the first time during the match in between the (rapid) games today. It’s like everybody knows everything. I don’t mind playing. I’m just saying I personally don’t know how to really get out of the opening with white and how to get an advantage. People don’t like it but then suddenly when I face Pragg and he’s someone who probably spends day and night looking at stuff. I mean he still fails to pose a single problem with white. So maybe it’s not about me. It’s probably about chess here. I mean we are getting to the point where like too many things will be well known. Still despite that it’s always nice to win.”
ALSO READ | FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Highlights, Round 4 Tiebreaks: Praggnanandhaa knocked out; Arjun Erigaisi, Harikrishna reach Round 5
Story continues below this ad
Dubov then praised Praggnanandhaa and when asked what Pragg’s style was, Dubov said: “I mean it’s not like Pragg’s fault. Generally it’s just that his style is that he’s simply good at chess. I don’t think there is a Mikhail Tal anymore. It’s not that you can be playing one exact style. I’ve never been close to Pragg’s strength, right? I’ve never been in the top five in the world. You cannot get there by only sacrificing pieces (like Tal). So Pragg’s style is very universal. He’s simply very good at chess.”
When Dubov was then asked if he was planning to reach top five in the world, he said: “We’ll see. I mean it’s not on my mind frankly exactly today also. It hasn’t been for quite some time.”
