Gukesh’s father hugs him
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Former women’s World rapid chess champion Koneru Humpy said what separated D. Gukesh, the newly-crowned World men’s chess champion, from his Chinese opponent Ding Liren in the World championship final was the confidence level.
“Honestly, I expected Gukesh to win more convincingly. But, again I am mighty impressed with his confidence levels. He believed in himself and that was the big difference eventually.
“Even from seemingly bad positions he could fight back remarkably while Ding struggled to do so,” Humpy told The Hindu.
“The way Gukesh came back strongly after losing the first game was a reminder of his amazing skills and the ability to hit back.
“I think today’s game was all about nervous breakdown. It was a basic end-game which anyone could have drawn but somehow Ding struggled and blundered,” Humpy said.
“Gukesh setting the record to be the youngest world champion is truly sensational and something really special, not just for him but for the entire chess fraternity of India,” she said.
“We never had any doubts about Gukesh scaling the summit one day given his profound talent. He is really hard working and very ambitious,” Humpy said.
“India winning the ‘golden double’ in the Olympiad and now Gukesh becoming World champion should be cherished for a long, long time to come by all of us,” she said.
GM D. Harika, also a member of the gold-medal winning Olympiad women’s team, said to see the final moments of Gukesh clinching the issue was really beautiful and should be etched in memory forever.
“I believe this magnificent triumph by Gukesh changes the face of Indian chess even more. This will have a much bigger and better impact on the sport in India,” Harika said.
“Once he reached the World championship finals itself, it was only a question of time before he won the title. He is such a nice, young boy,” she said.
Hard work, sacrifices
“I know Gukesh’s father and the kind of effort and hard work, sacrifices they made to see him reach this level. Really feel happy for them,” Harika said.
GM P. Harikrishna says the ability to calculate precisely the right moves at the right time and never give up attitude were the decisive factors.
“Losing the first round game and then going on to win the world title is something truly amazing. It reminds us of a similar extraordinary effort by Anand sir when he outwitted Topalov to clinch the honours in 2010,” Hari said from Prague.
“Honestly, before the Worlds final, I didn’t expect this kind of fightback by Gukesh. But hats off to him for pulling off a truly outstanding win,” he said.
Published – December 13, 2024 11:48 am IST
