PUNE: D Gukesh, 18, talks fondly about witnessing the World Chess Championship match between V Anand and Magnus Carlsen in his hometown of Chennai in 2013.
He had also visited Dubai for the 2021 match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen and followed it closely, though there was no India connection. He said the World C'ship match is a very special event in chess, and he is glad to be part of this amazing history.
In the same breath, the Olympiad gold medallist challenger to Ding Liren for the world chess throne said he is trying to consider his 14-game title match in Singapore scheduled from Nov 25 as "just a match against a very strong player'" and trying to enjoy the journey.
Top-level sportsmen play with their own belief system to be in the best shape for big occasions and Gukesh is no different. He is understandably secretive and sensitive about any information that may be used against him.
When asked about how he got himself in a great mental shape to win the Candidates tournament on debut as an unfancied player in Toronto earlier this year, he had said he follows "certain routines" during the tournament and sticks to it. When asked to elaborate, he had said, "Just some good practices."
Hence it was no surprise that he didn't reveal his training location to the select mediapersons during an interaction arranged by the Singapore match organisers on Tuesday. Of course, he is not bound by any whereabouts clause but he didn't want to give away any information by telling the name of the city where he is preparing diligently for the match. It's well known that Polish GM Grzegorz Gajewski is in his corner and so is India's five-time champion V Anand and his Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) besides childhood coach Vishnu Prasanna. The other names from his chess team are not in the public domain yet.
About him being labelled as the favourite considering Ding's huge slip in form and mental issues that he has faced, Gukesh said, "I don't really buy into these things that people say about the match. I'm sure he'll be coming to the match with the right spirit and he'll be trying his best. My approach is to treat every game with the utmost respect and energy and give it my best."
Gukesh is getting new experiences on a consistent basis and the wave of success means he is in a great frame of mind for the title match.
