For India’s top chess players, life is one long airport queue. They travel across continents almost every month, sometimes every week. With such packed schedules, even a few days at home now feels like a luxury.
On FIDE’s social media, a video featuring the brainiest chess players of the world was a jest in the form of a very simple question:
If you were allowed to choose just one holiday place to live at, what would it be?
Several participants appear to have interpreted the question in a very literal way and thus named locations like Greece, Bali, Maldives, Switzerland, Havana, San Sebastian, and the Caribbean. Nevertheless, the three Indian chess players D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, and Vaishali Rameshbabu not only decided differently but their reply was quite surprising.
They just wrote: Home.
It wasn’t because they dislike travel. In fact, they travel so much that being at home now feels like a break.
“Nowadays, going home feels like a vacation,” world champion Gukesh said with a smile.
And he wasn’t joking.
Gukesh’s Non-Stop Travel Life
Between August and October this year, Gukesh’s schedule was extremely busy. In just three months, he travelled to:
- Spain (Granada Chess Open)
- Poland (Katowice exhibition match vs Jan Krystof Duda)
- USA (St Louis Rapid and Blitz, Sinquefield Cup)
- Uzbekistan (FIDE Grand Swiss)
- USA again (USA vs India exhibition in Arlington, Texas)
- Greece (European Club Cup in Rhodes)
- USA again (Clutch Chess Champions Showdown, St Louis)
- India (FIDE World Cup in Goa)
After a short break, he played in Mumbai at the Global Chess League. From there, he will travel to Qatar for the World Rapid and Blitz Championship, then return to India for Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz in Kolkata.
Earlier this year, Gukesh also played tournaments in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Romania, Norway and Croatia.
That is why being home now feels special.
Praggnanandhaa’s Packed Calendar
The story is similar for R Praggnanandhaa.
He was on the go all the time this year and didn’t stop moving from one place to another while following the FIDE Circuit to gain a spot in the Candidates.
Among other places, his travels took him to the above-mentioned cities. Moreover, he was in India for the World Cup and only because of that, and the Global Chess League.
Between late August and early October, Pragg played tournaments on three different continents.
“I’ve hardly been home this year,” Pragg says.
“At most, I get two weeks at home. By the time I start feeling relaxed, the next tournament is already there.”
He recalls winning the UzChess Cup in Tashkent and still having no time to rest.
“I played for seven hours on the final day. After the closing ceremony, I was exhausted. But I still had to pack and leave immediately. That’s just how life is.”
Arjun Erigaisi: Flying Without a Pause
Arjun Erigaisi in the same manner walked the same path.
After a loss in the quarterfinals of the FIDE World Cup, he didn’t stay home longer than 10 days and then he took a flight to Jerusalem for a tournament. After that, he moved to South Africa for the Freestyle Chess season finale, and at last, he was in Mumbai for the Global Chess League.
“After the Jerusalem tournament ended, I had to fly the same night,” Arjun explains.
“It was a long journey via Tel Aviv and Addis Ababa.”
The very next day after the Freestyle event, he was flying again to Mumbai.
“But that flight had many chess players,” he says with a laugh.
Arjun estimates that he plays tournaments for more than half the year, though that is still less than earlier years when he played for almost 200 days in a year.
Pushing Limits While Young
Despite the heavy workload, none of them complain much.
Arjun believes fitness is key to handling such schedules.
“That’s why Magnus Carlsen is still strong at 35 and Vishy sir is doing so well at 56,” he says.
Gukesh also doesn’t worry about mental fatigue. When he was questioned about the reason for his rapid and blitz exhibition in the US just before the World Cup, he responded with a straightforward answer:
“If it is not at this age that I challenge myself, then when would it be?”
The chess game is always on for these young talents. Consequently, they consider home as the most wonderful vacation place in the world.
