Praggnanandhaa R spoke about falling ill in the final days of the Chess Olympiad 2026. Pragg says that he didn’t have much energy toward the end of the event. India’s No. 1 believes that an illness may have been spreading among the players. Pragg spoke about it in an interview with the Times of India.

Praggnanandhaa R

Praggnanandhaa R

India's No. 1

“The last few days I was having some cold and a little fever as well at some point. So, I wasn’t high on energy towards the end of the tournament.

But it kind of got better after the tournament ended. The last few days have been better. I’m also getting good sleep, so it’s fine…

I think it’s just that something was maybe spreading among the players. I think it started with someone and then everyone towards the end got it.

In general, I try not to experiment too much during a tournament. I go with my comfort food. I don’t do something that brings a cold — even something like going out in the cold can trigger it. We also take medicines that usually don’t make you sleepy, so you can be prepared in such a way.

But generally, these things don’t happen during a tournament. For me, I don’t know when the last time was that I had a cold during a tournament. I can’t really think of it. These things are rare for all the players. We’re generally able to avoid these things, but it happens in some tournaments.

Sometimes it’s not in your control.”

The Chess Olympiad 2026 took place from September 16 to 27 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The India team finished the tournament in 2nd place with 18 points. Praggnanandhaa R gained +2 Classical points during the event and moved up to 7th place in the live rating.

Credit: Rafal Oleksiewicz / FIDE