CHENNAI: D Gukesh has decided to pause a lot of his match play in a bid to rediscover his form ahead of the World Championship later this year. The Indian, one of the youngest world champions in history, has been enduring a prolonged slump since the beginning of 2025. To arrest it, he has decided to focus on 'more dedicated training time' at home.
As a consequence, he has decided to feature in only two European Rapid and Blitz events as part of his Grand Chess Tour calendar.
"My performance in the last few events has been quite disappointing, not just for me, but for all of you who support me," he posted on X. "In order to find my best form my team and I have decided that I should compete with slightly less intensity over the next few months. Consequently, we feel it is in my best interest to skip long events away from home to allow for more dedicated training time.
"With this in mind, I approached the Grand Chess Tour organizers and asked to play only two European Rapid & Blitz events. They were very supportive and understanding, and we agreed that I would participate in the Rapid & Blitz tournaments in Warsaw and Zagreb this year. I'm very grateful for their support. Respectfully, I am not planning to play any other events during the Grand Chess Tour schedule and will certainly be back for the full Grand Chess Tour in the future."
The Indian, still only 19, is still waiting to win a big Classical event after becoming champion at Singapore in 2024. He has not only lost 40 rating points but has also tumbled out of the world's top-10. It's why question marks have been raised about his game over the last six months or so.
In 2026, he has only featured in two events, Wijk aan Zee and the Prague Chess Festival. Both of those tournaments didn't see the Indian at his best as he finished 10th (out of 14th) and 9th (out of 10th) respectively.
