Exclusive | Anish Giri downplays concern over world champion D Gukesh's form in 2025: 'We forget the good parts'

Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju has had a mixed run since he defeated China’s Ding Liren to be crowned the youngest world champion in history exactly a year ago. Gukesh nearly won the prestigious Tata Steel Chess, which was his first event as world champion, finishing runner-up after losing to compatriot R Praggnanandhaa in the tie-breaks.

The Chennai resident would then go on to defeat Magnus Carlsen for the first time in his career in Norway Chess, and had also topped the ‘Rapid’ standings in the SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz tournament, highlighting a marked improvement in faster time controls.

Gukesh, however, has seen more lows than highs this year. Not only has he struggled with the Chess960 format in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, his performance in Classical games have also witnessed a steady decline with the 19-year-old failing to impress at the FIDE Grand Swiss as well as World Cup.

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‘He’s an absolute top player’

Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, however, isn’t too worried about Gukesh’s form this year, insisting that he remains an “absolute top player”. The world No 8 also felt that despite pulling off some remarkable achievements this year, the spotlight has shone brightly on Gukesh’s shortcomings in recent months.

“You know, we forget the good parts. You forget how he was fighting in Norway Chess, how he swindled Carlsen and made him slam the table, all this. We forget that. And we try to find patterns where there aren’t any. We try to find trends when there aren’t any trends. I don’t think there is any big trend to Gukesh’s chess career. I think he’s an absolute top player… being ambitious and so young,” Giri told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction.

“He’s a young player who is also very ambitious. And that means that, you know, he’s not going to take many safe draws and he was going to push a lot of positions for a win. And many of them will backfire eventually. So I think it’s normal.

“Might see him eventually becoming better and better and maybe dominating the chess. But for now, already his achievements, they are truly incredible. And being our youngest world champion, you know, ever is just it’s just amazing,” he added.

Giri expects tough challenge for Gukesh on ‘Icon’ board at GCL Season 3

Both Gukesh and Giri are participating in the third season of the Global Chess League in Mumbai, which got underway with an opening ceremony on Saturday. Gukesh is the ‘Icon’ player with PBG Alaskan Knights, the team that Giri had represented last season in London. The Dutchman, meanwhile, is representing Alpine SG Pipers this season as one of its ‘Superstar’ players.

The teenager had played alongside Magnus Carlsen for SG Alpine Warriors in the inaugural season in Dubai in 2023, but had skipped the second season in October last year in order to prepare for the FIDE World Championship showdown against Ding in Singapore two months later.

While he had played as a ‘Superstar’ in Season 1, Gukesh will be playing on the ‘Icon’ board in Season 3 for the first time, and Giri feels that it’s going to be quite the challenge for the reigning world champion at his second home event in as many months.

“Global Chess League for Gukesh is going to be very challenging. I think the time control is he’s getting better at Rapid and Blitz, but in general, he’s more focusing on classical.

“He’s playing ‘Icon’ Board, which is the toughest board. I mean, every board is tough, but Icon Board in particular. So, yeah, I think anything can happen,” Giri added.

Giri, meanwhile, has qualified for the Candidates tournament that will be taking place in Cyprus from 28 March to 16 April after winning the Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand in September. And should things go his way in the prestigious tournament, he could be challenging Gukesh for his world title later in 2026.