Gukesh explains factor behind chess boom in India besides Anand's inspirational touch: 'Since the pandemic...'

Reigning world champion D Gukesh felt that while chess has been charting a steady rise over the years, its popularity received a major boost during the COVID-19 pandemic with India being a major beneficiary of the same. The 19-year-old Grandmaster also reflected on how the legendary Viswanathan Anand and his academy – the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy – shaped his career as well as those of R Praggnanandhaa and other young Indian chess stars during the lockdown years.

Gukesh was among the first batch of pupils at Anand’s academy, which had been established in Bengaluru in the year 2020, with Praggnanandhaa and his sister Vaishali also being trained by the same institution.

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“It’s a very fortunate time to be a chess player. And I think since the pandemic, chess has seen a lot of growth. We had this advantage that you didn’t really have to travel to play chess, you could play online, you could do many things with chess, chess streaming for example,” Gukesh said in an interview with American GM Yasser Seirawan published on Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube channel.

“We also saw a lot of players work hard in the pandemic and then once the tournaments started over, all the youngsters came to the top. There is a lot of potential for chess to grow even further, and I’m really happy to be a part of all this,” the Indian chess star added.

Gukesh went on to detail how Anand, a five-time world champion who had become India’s first Grandmaster in 1988, inspired the current generation of chess stars by establishing an academy in addition to being “an inspiration” and a “role model”.

“It’s also similar that in the pandemic, chess grew a lot in India. I would think that huge of the success had to be Vishy sir. Not only being an inspiration or a role model but taking upon himself to create an academy for the youngsters, together with my sponsor Westbridge.

“They started the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy and I was part of it. That time I was just a 2500 Grandmaster. For sure it helped me a lot in becoming a top player. Once the results started to show up, the government support, corporate sponsorships and all that came naturally. It’s a bit of everything, and also you always need a bit of luck to go in your favour,” Gukesh continued.

Becoming world champion something I wanted more than anything else: Gukesh

As for his journey to becoming the youngest world champion in chess history with his 7.5-6.5 victory over Chinese GM Ding Liren in Singapore last December, Gukesh mentioned that it was something that he had wanted “more than anything else in his life”.

“Something maybe I just wanted more than anybody else. More than anything else that I wanted in my life. From my childhood I used to dream about it, and I think I managed to make the most out of the opportunities that I got, and that’s all you can do,” added Gukesh, who hails from Chennai.

And when asked to pick his toughest opponent, Gukesh said there wasn’t much to differentiate between a majority of the players in the top-10, making it tricky for him to pick just one name.

“In the top ten, if you see, pretty much everybody. Not everybody, but most of them are around the same strength. It’s like the edge is very, very little and most of it depends on who comes with a better mindset on that given day or in that specific tournament. Each year you see, Last year, for example, me and Arjun were doing great and Pragg was not doing great. This year, Pragg has been winning a lot of tournaments,” Gukesh added.

Also Read | Anand picks the 'best' between Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun: 'They are all very close'

Gukesh’s chat with GM Seirawan took place on the sidelines of the Sinquefield Cup, the final event of the Grand Chess Tour before the Finals, where he suffered a stunning defeat against compatriot Praggnanandhaa in the opening round but bounced back with a victory over Uzbekistani No 1 Nodirbek Abdusattorov.