 "D Gukesh: ‘I am not the best player in the world, that is Magnus Carlsen’")
Having fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming the youngest chess world champion of all time with an emotional victory over Ding Liren in Singapore earlier this week, Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh plans to playing at the top level “for longest time possible”.
Gukesh had been having a red-hot run this year, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the Candidates Tournament and starring in India’s historic Olympiad campaign in Budapest. The 18-year-old, however, ended up topping those incredible feats with his 7.5-6.5 victory over Chinese GM Ding in the 2024 FIDE World Championship, surpassing Russian legend Garry Kasparov as the youngest world champion of all time in the process.
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After beating Ding in 58 moves in the final Classical game on Thursday to clinch the title, Gukesh set his sights on another challenge – that of testing his skills against world No 1 and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen.
“Becoming the world champion does not mean I am the best player, obviously that is Magnus,” Gukesh said in his first press conference as world champion on Thursday.
“That will help me keep doing the right things, working hard, and trying to reach the level of greatness that Magnus has achieved.”
“Obviously playing against Magnus in a world championship would be amazing, it would be the toughest challenge there is in chess. I mean, it is up to Magnus, but I would love to test myself against the best player in the world,” added Gukesh.
Carlsen, however, played down the prospect of a showdown against Gukesh . The Norwegian Grandmaster had reigned supreme as world champion for a decade after defeating Indian legend Viswanathan Anand in 2013, but had decided against defending his title against 2022 Candidates winner Ian Nepomniachtchi last year, citing lack of motivation.
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That allowed Ding to step in and defeat Russian GM Nepomniachtchi in the World Championship in Astana in April last year, becoming the first ever world champion from China in the process.
“It’s not going to be me. I mean, let’s talk about Gukesh and the match and so on. I’m not part of this circus anymore,” Carlsen said on Take Take Take YouTube channel in response to Gukesh’s comments.
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