Gukesh doing everything correctly ahead of World Chess Championship but I would not underestimate Liren: Anand

Indian chess legend maintained that while D Gukesh remains a favourite to win the upcoming World Championship showdown against current title holder Ding Liren in Singapore later this month, he would not underestimate the Chinese Grandmaster at all.

While Gukesh has had an extraordinary run in 2024, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the Candidates Tournament and later starring in India’s historic golden sweep at the 45th Chess Olympiad , Liren has not won a game in the Classical format since January this year.

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Anand however, cautioned against taking Liren lightly despite his poor run in recent events.

“At the moment, Gukesh knows at what level he should try to play but Ding is still struggling to find it. We can’t pretend otherwise. But Ding is a person who can dig deep, so I would not underestimate him at all,” former world champion Anand said in an interview with FIDE, the global governing body for the sport.

Anand, who became India’s first Grandmaster in 1988, added that while Liren appears to be “suffering” at the moment, Gukesh is doing “everything correctly” in the build-up to what is the biggest match of his career so far. The challenge for the Indian, however, will be to avoid complacency that could creep in due to their contrasting performances in recent tournaments.

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“It’s clear that Ding is suffering a bit. The only thing is there’s always light at the end of a tunnel. So you never know. He’s also got to keep fighting and working because you would never know when he’ll come out of the struggle that he’s in.

“For Gukesh, I think he’s doing everything correctly. We can see that his level is very high. He’s playing every game, playing long games, fighting for every point and pulling so much off. So for him, things are going well, and the challenge is not to get relaxed or complacent. From Ding’s perspective, his hope is to come back,” Anand added.

The 54-year-old added that a very different Ding Liren could turn up in Singapore on 25 November, when the World Championship gets underway with the opening game of the Best-of-14 series.

“Maybe when he sees that he’s in Singapore and that he has to start playing, something can click in the brain and you start playing differently,” said Anand, who was appointed deputy president of FIDE in 2022.

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Anand, who had become India’s first ever chess world champion after defeating Spain’s Alexei Shirov in 2000, went on to compare Liren’s playing style with that of the 18-year-old Indian GM.

“They’re both capable of coming in multiple avatars, to turn up and play with a different style. In that sense, they’re flexible.

“At least my perception of Ding is that he is on the solid side. Gukesh is much more tactical, but that’s how it seems to me,” said Anand, whose legendary career has inspired an entire generation of chess stars from India including Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi.