CHENNAI: GM D Gukesh’s journey from a normal school kid playing chess to challenging the best in the business has been phenomenal. Once a budding chess player, Gukesh became a World Chess Championship challenger and it has been a major boost for Indian chess. After the legendary Viswanathan Anand, he became the second player from India to feature in a World Championship. He is a U-12 World Youth Champion and a multiple gold medalist in the Asian games.
He has dominated many international tournaments all over the world and his career has seen a phenomenal rise in the last five years. He won a gold medal on board one of the Indian teams that brilliantly won the 45th Chess Olympiad, not to forget an individual gold that he secured at Chennai Olympiad in 2022.
Gukesh has been up against current World Champion Ding Liren of China since Monday with the latter winning the first. The second one ended in a draw on Tuesday. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will claim the title, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million prize fund.
The young Grand Master was coached by Vishnu Prasanna at a personal level and while representing the country he was under the guidance of national coach GM Srinath N.
But the turning point for Gukesh was his association with the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) since its inception in 2020. Leading coaches like Boris Gelfand, Artur Yusupov, Grzegorz Gajewski, and Sandipan Chanda have played a big part in the academy’s immense growth.
Apart from Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, Leon Luke Mendonca, Vaishali R, and Savitha Shri are some of the top Indian players from WACA.
Srinath, the coach of the gold medal-winning Indian Olympiad team, insists that Gukesh must have benefitted a lot from his association with Anand. “By just talking with Anand one can learn a lot.
Having the five-time world champion as a mentor is a blessing. Anand would have certainly shared the experience of his playing days as a youngster and then how he went on to be a world champion. These things will certainly inspire any player,” said Srinath.
Anand’s idea of appointing his former trainer Gajewski as Gukesh’s personal second in 2023 also worked wonders for the 18-year-old. And this resulted in Gukesh’s biggest victory till now which has been winning the Candidates this year in Toronto.
“I have no idea what his (Gukesh) training methods are at the moment which in general is not for public consumption, as the World Championship is nearing. But at WACA with Anand, Gukesh would have understood the psyche behind playing and winning a world championship,” said Srinath.
A world championship is not just like any other tournament. It is unique, and the pressure and stakes are very high. “I guess Gukesh would have learnt how to approach and the process involved in playing a series of matches. One needs patience, presence of mind, stamina, and endurance to last the course,” opined Srinath, wishing Gukesh the very best to have a crack at the World Crown.