Gukesh’s reign faces scrutiny: Kasparov and Karpov’s criticism of Indian GM’s world title not all hate

“Gukesh became world champion by accident because he was not supposed to win the match against Ding Liren… Officially, it’s Gukesh, but because Carlsen stopped playing. And so Carlsen, if he wanted to, could take the crown back.”

Russian chess legend Anatoly Karpov did not mince words when he said that Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion of all time “by accident”. He even reiterated what is a popular belief within the chess community – that Gukesh would not have pulled off the historic feat in Singapore in December 2024 had world No 1 Magnus Carlsen opted against defending his world title in 2023.

Karpov, incidentally, isn’t the only chess legend who has questioned Gukesh’s credentials as world champion. Fellow Russian icon Garry Kasparov, the previous owner of the record for the youngest chess world champion until Gukesh’s triumph, had made a similar comment in August last year, maintaining the Carlsen remains the strongest and that “Gukesh is yet to prove his superiority”.

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“Gukesh won fair and square but you can hardly call him the strongest player in the world. I don’t want to sound offensive but I think Magnus ended the era of classical world champions.

“It’s still clear that Magnus is the strongest and Gukesh is yet to prove his superiority over others,” Kasparov had said on the sidelines of the Sinquefield Cup.

A fair observation of chess in its current state

Kasparov and Karpov’s statements have caused quite the flutter in recent times, especially the latter’s description of Gukesh’s triumph as an “accident”.

To be fair to Gukesh, he did win the Candidates fair and square, finishing top of the table at the end of 14 rounds ahead of the trio of Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi – tournament favourites who finished half-a-point behind.

And it wasn’t exactly his fault that Carlsen lost interest in the Classical format after reigning supreme as the No 1 for more than a decade and winning five consecutive world titles. Carlsen or no Carlsen, winning both the Candidates as well as the World Championship takes more than just skills, and is a test of one’s character. And to do so at the age of just 18 makes it an even more incredible feat.

At the same time, Kasparov and Karpov weren’t just the standout players of their time – they are among the greatest in the history of chess, winning a combined 12 world titles spanning more than two decades besides having spent years as the world No 1. Therefore, it goes without saying that the two Soviet and Russian legends have earned the right to express their opinion, however, controversial it may sound to the Indian chess fraternity.

It doesn’t take one to be an all-time great either to acknowledge the fact that while Gukesh is the world champion, Carlsen remains the world’s best player by a fair distance – something that the Indian teenager himself had acknowledged right after his World Championship triumph in Singapore.

Constructive criticism for Gukesh

Let’s also not forget the fact that both Kasparov and Karpov had showered praise on the Indian chess ecosystem and on India’s meteoric rise as a chess-playing nation in recent years.

And while they did not shy away from calling a spade a spade when it came to comparing Gukesh with Carlsen, they did offer praise to the former for making the most of the opportunity and etching his name in the annals of history.

“His resilience reminds me of computers. With computers, if you lose concentration, you’re done. Gukesh is the kind of player you have to beat multiple times… Carlsen came here looking for revenge after Norway Chess, and that’s never a good mindset,” Kasparov had said of Gukesh after the Indian GM defeated Carlsen for the second time in as many meetings last year.

“But if we talk about the overall situation of how Gukesh became world champion, it’s the result of a serious state program for chess in India. I don’t know who advised their leaders, but Indian chess players are already dominating international tournaments,” Karpov had said, commenting on the rise of Indian chess.

Kasparov and Karpov’s comments thus could be viewed as constructive criticism for Gukesh. Ask the 19-year-old, and chances are, he will take it in the right spirit and work towards getting as close to Carlsen’s level as possible.