There were some critics who suggested that Ding underperformed deliberately. Gukesh has an interesting take on this subject.
“Anyone who understands high-level sports, it’s clear that if you play 13 games at a high-level, in high-intensity, prepare for six months and if you come for the last game at a World Championship, you are pretty much dead at that point. We are basically two dead people playing chess and mistakes happen in those moments,” he said.
Gukesh had also displayed his ability to handle setbacks during the World Championship, having lost the 12th game.
“It was quite tough, but I was still confident that I could pull through,” he recalled.
That was mainly due to solid preparation and support in the form of brilliant seconds. His seconds team comprised the likes of Grzegorz Gajewski, Pentala Harikrishna, Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Jan Klimkowski (Poland) and Vincent Keymer (Germany).
Gajewski has worked with Anand before and his addition to Gukesh’s team had proven to be a game-changer.
“Gajewski is more than a second to me. He has been my trainer for the last two years and we had the whole team. Gajewski was the head of the team and we also had Radoslaw, Harikrishna, Vincent, Jan-Krzystof, Duda and Vishy Sir helped us in some moments, so the whole team was amazing,” said Gukesh.
Polish players have a reputation of being precise and meticulous in their preparation and Gukesh benefitted from their inputs.
“They (apart from Gajewski) were working very hard for me, it was harder for them because they were burning the midnight oil for me in order to help me prepare for the next games and it was very special. Paddy (Upton, mental conditioning coach) has made sure that I am emotionally, physically and mentally prepared for this huge challenge,” said Gukesh.
“Four Polish in the seconds team was mostly based on the fact that I was comfortable with the guys and Gajewski knew all the Polish players and he has a lot of experience with them. And as a head of the team, it made a lot of sense. Each second has their own specialty and we tried to take the maximum out of it,” he added.
Now, there are many fans who are curious about the next world championship event. And there are many who are hopeful of watching Gukesh take on Carlsen, who’s considered to be the best in the sport. “He (Carlsen) is a good player and I hope to play against him soon,” Gukesh signed off.
