Viswanathan Anand heaps praise on D Gukesh for his resilience, says it's 'hard to break' reigning world champion

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand described reigning world champion D Gukesh as someone who is “hard to break” while talking about his protege’s playing style. Former world No 1 Anand cited the example of how the 18-year-old bounced back from a defeat in his World Championship showdown against Ding Liren in Singapore, while adding that it is his consistency that makes him such a strong player.

Gukesh had made history in December after beating Chinese Grandmaster Ding 7.5-6.5 to become the youngest world champion in chess history. In the process, he became only the second Indian after Anand to win the sport’s top prize.

‘Gukesh took it in his stride and kept working’

The path to becoming world champion, however, was far from easy for the teen chess sensation, with Ding winning the opening game at Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa and later leveling the scores with a victory in Game 12.

“For instance, his win in Game 11 was met by quite a stinging defeat in Game 12, but he took it in his stride and kept working,” Anand, India’s first Grandmaster, told Forbes India.

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“There’s a kind of consistency that you see with him and that makes him very strong because, if you’re his opponent, you feel it’s hard to break him.”

“He prepared diverse ideas in many different openings. Some didn’t work, like Game 1, but many worked, like Games 3, 7, 13,” added the five-time world champion.

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Gukesh highlighted his fighting spirit in the World Championship by refusing to accept a draw in Game 14 and allow the title to be decided in the rapid and blitz tie-breaks – where his opponent would have had the advantage over him.

And in doing so, Gukesh induced a blunder from Ding that resulted in a victory in 58 moves, leading to wild celebrations in Singapore as well as back home.