'Surely felt nervous': D Gukesh explains how he stayed clam amid the Candidates Chess tournament storm

Indian chess grandmaster, D Gukesh, who recently won the FIDE Candidates Chess tournament in Toronto, feels it’s time for the “Next Gen” to take over the sport. Gukesh, 17, on Monday, became the youngest to win the Candidates Chess and will now be playing against current world champion Ding Liren of China later in the year for the world title.

“I think the new generation has been showing very good performances for quite some time. And this feels like a huge moment in the shift to the Next Gen,” Gukesh said in an interview with the Hindustan Times .

Read: D Gukesh makes Magnus Carlsen eat his words with Candidates Chess win

Gukesh is only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the prestigious tournament and the impressive aspect about his campaign was that despite being only 17, the Chennai lad always stayed calm and didn’t let the pressure dictate the terms. Even when he needed a win or draw in the last match to win the tournament, Gukesh held his nerves and played out a draw against world No.3 Hikaru Nakamura.

“I mean, it’s good to be ambitious, but the ambition should be controlled. You need to do what is demanded of the position. That was my main focus. I was trying to do it throughout the tournament – just know what the position needs, and play it accordingly. If it’s a draw, go for a draw. And if I have a chance then I take it. Mainly, I was trying to not do anything stupid,” Gukesh added explaining his plans for the tournament.

Elaborating further on how he managed to stay calm throughout the tournament and focus on the job despite taking the lead, he said that he took help from yoga but largely sticking to things he always does helped him.

“I surely felt nervous. Luckily, I managed to perform well throughout the tournament. I didn’t do anything different from usual, but just things that I always did. I was genuinely more sincere and focused this time. I was meditating every day, and doing yoga. During the game, whenever I felt nervous, I took some time to calm down. It was not easy to handle…During tournaments, I find it easier to remain focused and just be serious. It just comes naturally to me. After the tournament, of course, I was very happy.”