Bengaluru, June 9 -- The identity of a top player's team of seconds is perhaps one of the most closely guarded secrets in chess. On Monday, however, R Praggnanandhaa decided to break convention and reveal his extended team as a mark of gratitude days after his remarkable charge to the Norway Chess title with four classical wins in a row. His long-time coach and mentor, RB Ramesh, shared a photograph on X from a training camp held ahead of this year's Candidates with a shout out to Pragg's extended team. The image featured Praggnanandhaa, his known second Vaibhav Suri, sister R Vaishali, and Ramesh. But it also revealed previously unknown members of the setup: French GMs Joseph Girel and Mahel Boyer, both in their early 20s, who have been part of the Indian star's preparation team. "After his Norway Chess win, Pragg thanked his family and the known members of his team - Vaibhav and I. He really wanted to thank Joseph and Mahel publicly rightaway I suppose, but held back," Ramesh told HT on Monday. "We later discussed it and agreed that it would be nice to acknowledge them for the work they've been putting in for close to two years now. The original plan was not to name them until after the World Championship, if Pragg qualified for it. Since that didn't happen and the next Candidates tournament is still some way off, and with the Norway Chess win, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I spoke to Joseph and Mahel and they were okay with being named. They're young, super hardworking and deserve due credit." Ramesh met Joseph during a training camp he conducted in Italy a couple of years ago. He was an IM then. "He was a participant in the camp and I was impressed with his ideas and how he was faring. I discussed about him with Pragg. We were thinking of adding young members to the team at the time. Pragg had already worked with big names so we wanted to try working with lesser-known ones. After the camp, I tracked how Joseph was doing and once he became GM (in 2024) I asked him if he would want to work for Team Pragg. He agreed rightaway and also recommended Mahel as a team member. The great thing with having young players in the team is that they're hungry for success because they believe they have a lot to prove and they also come with zero baggage." "Huge thanks to Mahel and Joseph for their incredible work! Both of them have played a big role in preparation in the last two years! Thank you so much guys!!" Praggnanandhaa wrote on X. Praggnanandhaa's second win against world No.1 Magnus Carlsen with Black in Round 8 of Norway Chess came off the French Defense. On move 5, Praggnanandhaa pulled out a surprise with Nh6, a fairly new idea. Carlsen spent over 20 minutes coming up with a response. Praggnanandhaa had employed the French in the Candidates earlier this year. "We came up with a lot of ideas for the Candidates and the one in the French that he played against Magnus was unused. I was literally pleading with Pragg to play it. Magnus spent a lot of time in the opening and Pragg ended up being over an hour ahead on the clock inside the first 14 moves. Pragg might play it down at times but to beat Magnus twice and finish ahead of him in a tournament is definitely a big deal for all of us in the team," Suri told HT....