D Gukesh opens up on future after becoming chess world champion: 'Main goal I have had is being the best in the world'

D Gukesh fulfilled his dream of becoming a chess world champion with his victory over Ding Liren in the FIDE World Championship last week. The 18-year-old from Chennai, who broke Garry Kasparov's 39-year-old record to become the youngest world champion in the sport’s history, defeated Chinese GM Ding by a 7.5-6.5 scoreline following his 58-move victory in Game 14 on Thursday.

Gukesh will be celebrating the achievement with family and friends for sometime now, and will also be attending a number of felicitations in India in the days to come. As for his future assignments, the teen chess prodigy had stated that he is unlikely to participate in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships that will be taking place in New York City from 26 to 31 December.

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Gukesh, did, however talk about life after his triumph in the World Championships, saying that while becoming a world champion is every bit an incredible feat, he is by no means done when it comes to ticking off all the boxes in his career check list.

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“I mean as a kid I wanted to become world champion because I thought it meant the best player in the world. It’s still a very special achievement for me. Going through the whole process – Candidates, World Championship – it’s very stressful and I had to put a lot of effort into it.

“So it means a lot to me, but the main goal I have had is being the best in the world and achieving my full potential. And if that’s enough to become the greatest of all time, then yeah sure,” Gukesh said in an interview with FIDE.

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Gukesh named world No 1 Magnus Carlsen, who had reigned as world champion for a decade before deciding not to defend his title last year, and a host of other leading names in the sport as a source of motivation for him to continue working hard and striving towards perfection.

“Magnus and all the top guys – Fabi (Fabiano Caruana), Hikaru (Nakamura), Nepo (Ian Nepomniachtchi)… all these amazing guys, they’re just motivation for me to keep working hard. I guess this is the beauty of competition,” Gukesh added.

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The World Championship was the icing on the cake for Gukesh, who had been having a red-hot run since dethroning his mentor and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian chess player after 37 years in August last year.

Gukesh would go on to win the Candidates Tournament in April this year, also becoming the youngest winner in the tournament’s history, before playing a starring role in India’s historic campaign in the 45th Olympiad in Budapest, in which they won gold in the ‘Open’ as well as ‘Women’ categories.