Praggnanandhaa R spoke about his coach Vaibhav Suri at the Grand Chess Tour 2026 Finals. Pragg says that Vaibhav worked a lot, and notes the difficulties due to the time zone difference. Pragg shared this in an interview with The Indian Express.

Praggnanandhaa R

Praggnanandhaa R

India's No. 1

“My coach completely messed up his sleep schedule because of me.

He couldn’t come here to Saint Louis Chess Club because of some visa issues, but he stayed connected with me despite the massive time difference. His sleep cycle must have been completely ruined. Huge credit to him. He was basically up throughout the night.

He worked probably more than me in this tournament. He is a dedicated person. He worked a lot. It’s difficult to put it in hours or words. He basically always has a plan for my next game before I even finish the game. So, it’s much easier for me to come back and decide for the next games.

Even when I’m playing Rapid and Blitz games, he’s always there checking if there is some improvement needed or if we need to shift to a different opening or something. It’s nice to have someone like that who is always there to help. Huge thanks to him.

As I said, doing it remotely with this time difference is difficult.”

The Grand Chess Tour 2026 Finals took place from August 22 to 28 at the Saint Louis Chess Club in Missouri, USA. Praggnanandhaa R defeated Fabiano Caruana in the final with a score of 15-13. Pragg became the GCT 2026 Champion and earned $404,354 across all tour events he played.

Credit: Michal Walusza