Gukesh dethrones Ding and realises his dream of becoming a World champion
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Gukesh’s mentor and former coach, GM Vishnu Prasanna, said he was indescribably happy that his ward has achieved their primary goal at just eighteen years of age!
Speaking over phone on Thursday (December 12, 2024) after Gukesh won the World title, he said: “Incredible! I mean I was not expecting the match to end this way. I’m just very happy! Can’t even describe it!”
He had actually taken his eyes off the last game, when his excited wife alerted him of Gukesh’s imminent win.
“My wife was more excited and she was jumping! She was the one who told me. I had stopped watching the game. She was like, ‘The (evaluation) bar is moving,’ and so on.”
Talking about the match in general, he said: “The games where Gukesh refused a draw and just kept playing, those were what showed a lot of character. I think it was a very difficult match. There was no way to say which way it would go.
“I thought tie-breaks were even, actually. Because, he (Gukesh) is also training in shorter formats and so on. He could always surprise people. I mean 60-40 or whatever the numbers (odds) were, these don’t matter in a match.
“It’s all about nerves and energy and stuff like that. It’s not so easily measurable. I thought he was becoming stronger in rapid and blitz games.”
Speaking about the road ahead for them, now that the primary goal has been achieved, Prasanna said: “To dominate the sport, is the aim now. To become the No. 1 in the ratings, for sure. Even though he’s won the match, I would not say he has shown so much difference between him and Ding or so many other players. To show that difference like Magnus (Carlsen), is a goal.”
Asked what Gukesh’s win meant for Indian chess, he said: “It (chess) is going to be a huge sport in India, I hope. I’m sure the title will stay in India for a while.
“Hopefully, with Gukesh, but you will see a lot of Indians winning a lot of things. So, I’m sure that more people would be engaged with the sport and there will be more heroes in chess.”
R.B. Ramesh, who had favoured Gukesh and predicted that the match wouldn’t last the entire set of games, had a word of praise for Ding.
“It was nice to see that Ding managed to overcome his psychological demons. He put up a very good fight, and only to see that everything crumbled in just one move!
“Full appreciation for Ding as well for a great fight despite his psychological condition”.
Published – December 13, 2024 11:41 am IST
