Speaking during a recent event, the India chess legend said, as quoted by Hindustan Times, said, “Gukesh never really changed the strategy of pushing. Unexpected things happened during the match, but he was there the next day, pushing again. The rook [blunder] didn’t happen in a vacuum.”
Gukesh, who received praises and tributes from current and former chess players, he also received a negative response too. Earlier, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik labelled Ding Liren’s mistake as a child-like blunder.
Gukesh vs defending champion Ding Liren:
Earlier in December 2024, India’s 18-year-old D Gukesh achieved the milestone by defeating reigning champion Ding Liren in the final of the tournament in Singapore.
In the decisive Game 14 round of the FIDE World Chess Championship, it appeared it was going according to Liren’s plan, who was trying to force out a tie-breaker.
However, the Chinese Grandmaster in the 55th move made a massive blunder which saw him resign and concede to Gukesh.
A year ago, Gukesh wasn’t even expected to challenge Liren for the title, but the Indian Grandmaster stunned everyone to win the Candidates Tournament as he qualified for a showdown with Liren.
Gukesh Vs Carlsen:
After his win in Singapore, chess great Magnus Carlsen had said that classical chess was perhaps the “worst way” to measure a player, adding that rapid chess was perhaps a more “pure” form of chess.
He said that Gukesh’s World Chess Championship final against China’s Ding Liren looked like a second or third round match in an open tournament.
However, Gukesh had given his response to Carlsen after his win in Singapore, stating that he understood that the quality of the games weren’t always upto to the mark, but overall it was a good championship match. When Gukesh challenged Carlsen to the title, the Norwegian has already denied such a development.
According to latest FIDE rankings, Gukesh is World No. 5, and India’s No. 2.
This article has been updated to add new information.
