CHENNAI: The smile was plastered on D Gukesh’s face in the 13-minute press conference following the last round of the Candidates. The teen, who became the youngest to win the prestigious eight-player event, addressed a variety of issues. His main second, Grzegorz Gajewski, was by his side. Excerpts from the press conference:
On his emotions
So relieved and happy. I was following this crazy game (between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana). I was completely emotional. After the game, now, I’m feeling quite good.
On his performance (question to Gakewski)
Very happy. Not just in terms of his results but also in the quality of the games. The quality of his moves were so high that he didn’t make too many mistakes. He had one accident in his first game against Alireza (Firouzja). Apart from that, there were hardly any mistakes.
On any preliminary thoughts on the title bout against Ding Liren
I haven’t really thought about it a lot. I just got to know the result. I haven’t had any time (to think about it) but the main strategy will be to play good moves and be in the right mindset. Very excited to play in the World Championship match.
On when did you start believing you could win this
I wasn’t 100% sure even after the last game to be honest (the tournament would have gone to a two-way tie-breaker if the game between Nepomniachtchi and Caruana had a winner). If I had to pinpoint a moment where I really felt this could be my moment, it was probably after the seventh game. After I lost to Firouzja, I was quite upset. But I felt so good, during the rest day (after that loss). Even though it was painful, I was at my absolute best. I don’t know, maybe the loss gave me so much motivation.
On the tag of becoming the youngest to win it
I’m mostly just happy about winning the tournament. Don’t really care about the youngest and all these records. It’s a nice thing to say (smiles).