BUDAPEST: In just over a week, the attention of the chess world will turn to Geneva, the unlikely host of the next World Championship, where D Gukesh will aim to defend his world title against Javokhir Sindarov.
While most of the chess world believes that the Uzbek will be the favourite based on form, the Indian world champion has made a conscious effort to ‘relax a bit more’. In a very revealing interview to select Indian media earlier this year, he had spoken about how he had struggled for motivation for vast parts of 2025.
That kind of strain was visible on the face of the 20-year-old.
The results weren’t coming, and he was also losing rating points. However, over the last few months, there has been a noticeable change. “He has deliberately made a conscious effort to relax a bit more,” team captain Srinath Narayanan told this daily. “Taking things a bit light, he was a little bit more goofy and making more jokes in team meetings.
I think he also started surfing a month or so ago.”
Physical activities like surfing have just been one part of the equation. Before R Vaishali and R Praggnanandhaa travelled to Budapest for an event, Gukesh sent both of them a message asking if they would be interested in watching Jailer 2, the new Rajinikanth movie. That’s how the trio watched the movie in a theatre in Chennai.
Full story: newindianexpress.com