Interview with Srinath Narayanan, captain of India for Chess Olympiad 2024

Team India comes as one of the rating favorites at the Chess Olympiad 2024. The combined ELO of the India open and women’s team is the highest of the Olympiad.

The open team of India is second seeded according to the FIDE rating list, right behind USA. Board 1 is for the highest rated Indian player Arjun Erigaisi. Right next to him will be no other than the World Championship 2024 challenger Gukesh D. Another youngster is on board 3 , Praggnanandhaa, and the team is completed by Vidit and Pentala Harikrishna.

Team India is captained by Srinath Narayanan who kindly answered the questions of Chessdom.com for the coming Chess Olympiad.

Tell us about the preparation of team India for the Chess Olympiad 2024

In recent times playing a lot seems to be one of the key factors for preparation and staying in shape. In accordance with that our players have prioritised playing tournaments and keeping themselves active. Gukesh and Pragg have been playing quite a bit including in St Louis. Hari played in Rubinstein Memorial in Poland. Vidit has been playing quite a bit, both online and offline. Arjun has been almost setting world records for being the most active player at his rating range! Everyone comes in quite active and well trained with their own ideas and preparation. We just need to be cautious about overdoing things as this team needs help more to relax rather than to be pushed.

You were a coach/captain of India A last Olympiad. From that team you have Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, and Pentala Harikrishna, while bringing in from India B Gukesh and Pragg. Is this change a step up?

With each edition the Indian team definitely seems to be having a step up. I have no role in selecting the team. The teams are selected according to the rating average of last 3 months from the time of registration. In general I think this is a good and impartial system of selection.

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Psychology is part of the game. Does being second seeded, according to the July rating list, put pressure on the team? And does playing away from home release pressure?

I think being the seeding number of the team hardly matters. It comes down to individual matchups, and Olympiad is like an open event. I think having a young team is a bit of an advantage here, as the experience of playing opens is still fresh in their memories. Playing away from home in general reduces pressure but perhaps not in this particular case. Our experience of playing the Chennai Chess Olympiad was great. When playing in Chennai there is a lot of familiarity, home support, and great support from the organisation and the government as well. Gukesh’s historic 8/8 and his win in the Chennai GM event both happened in Chennai. With Chennai, I can also be confident that the organization will be top notch. Based on these factors, we definitely prefer playing in Chennai.

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Besides you and the players, who will accompany you and aid your team in Budapest?

Last time we had GM Vaibhav Suri and GM Sankalp Gupta help the team. It’ll be the same this time as well.

Does the All India Chess Federation support your Olympic journey? In what ways?

The All India Chess Federation organised training camps, covers the cost of expenses for the team. They have built a framework that has been working well for a few years now. The federation itself faces a lot of challenges and a lot of things can be improved, but I think that’s something common to chess administration as a whole.

Have you talked to Vishy Anand? Is he going to support you in Budapest?

Vishy is always a support to the team and shares great rapport with all of us. He is very friendly and always approachable for help and advice. He invited me to his residence is Spain and Chennai when I was less than 12 years old. This is personally with me, and he has a similar camaraderie with all the players as well. But I have great respect for him and I only approach him for things which are of utmost importance and things I can’t solve on my own.

You are now focused on the Olympiad. But tell us more about your chess projects/activities this year and in the near future.

Post Olympiad I’ll be captaining the Mumba Masters team in October in Global Chess League. We are also building up towards something exciting in November about which we will hear more in the times to come.

This November the Gukesh – Ding Liren match begins. Gukesh can become the youngest World Champion. Do you talk to him about the match? What are your expectations?

I feel optimistic about Gukesh’s chances. In recent times I feel that he has simply been playing better. I feel it is a bit similar to the 2013 match when Vishy was already not in his best shape, and Magnus was rising. Gukesh is perhaps not as strong now as Magnus was in 2013, so the level difference is not as big, but nevertheless I think Gukesh begins as a clear favourite. He also showed in the candidates that despite his young age, he can handle pressure brilliantly.