D Gukesh not winning World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren will be 'really, really surprising': Anish Giri

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh has been widely tipped to emerge triumphant in his World Chess Championship showdown against China’s Ding Liren in Singapore later this month. Gukesh has had a stellar year so far, one in which he not only became the youngest winner of the Candidates Tournament but also spearheaded India’s triumphant campaign at the 45th Chess Olympiad.

Dutch GM Anish Giri for one would be “really, really surprised” if Gukesh doesn’t end up defeating Liren in what will be the biggest match of his career, and become only the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to be crowned world champion.

“I will be really, really surprised if Gukesh doesn’t win. Everything points to his victory at the moment. He has been playing tremendously for a long time,” Giri told The Hindu.

More from Sports

Why Novak Djokovic’s tennis calendar is under scrutiny as experts fear he could be left behind Federer ‘Gukesh is an incredibly fighting player. I think it’s adorable’: Caruana’s rare praise for world champion amid horror form

Read | Gukesh vs Liren showdown not a World Chess Championship battle for me: Kasparov

Giri added that Gukesh has added “a solid layer to his play” from the 2022 edition of the Chess Olympiad, which had taken place in Chennai, in which the hosts had won a bronze in the Open as well as Women’s sections.

“If we compare Gukesh from the previous Olympiad, I think he has added a solid layer to his play. He was always good at generating chances, at going for uncompromising chess, but he didn’t have a solid backup.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

WWE SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 results: Cody Rhodes beats John Cena in wild title match

Read | Gukesh ‘significant favourite’ against Liren, will win World Championship if he strikes first: Carlsen

“For example, when I played him in the Sinquefield Cup, he surprised me with very deep, very solid preparation. He didn’t give me a chance to get the game going. Earlier, you would always be able to get a fight with him,” added Giri, who had recently participated in the second edition of the Global Chess League where he was part of PBG Alaskan Knights as their ‘Icon’ player.

The 2024 World Chess Championship will be hosted in Singapore between 25 November and 13 December with Gukesh and Liren set to battle it out in the best-of-14 games that will have tie-breaks if required.

Anand, who became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988, is also the only Indian to have been crowned chess world champion till date. After finishing runner-up to the legendary Garry Kasparov in the 1995 Classical World Chess Championship in New York City, Anand would defeat Alexei Shirov in the FIDE World Chess Championship that was hosted in New Delhi and Tehran in 2000.

Anand would then become the Undisputed World Champion in 2007 after defeating Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik in 2007. He defeat Kramnik the following year as well to retain his title, and would also win in 2010 and 2012 against Veselin Topalov and Boris Gelfand respectively.

His run as world champion would finally come to an end with a defeat against Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, who would reign supreme for the next 10 years until withdrawing from 2023 World Chess Championship.