Exclusive | Gukesh's lack of experience could help against Liren in World Chess Championship: Grandmaster Narayanan

Dommaraju Gukesh has been on a roll in what many would consider a landmark year for Indian chess, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the Candidates Tournament in Toronto in April and starring at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary in September, where the Indian contingent completed a historic golden sweep in the ‘Open’ and ‘Women’ categories.

The 18-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai had recently participated in the European Club Chess Cup in Serbia, where he had suffered his first defeat in the Classical format in 38 games. Since then, Gukesh’s attention has been fixed on one goal, that of defeating Ding Liren in Singapore to be crowned World Chess Champion.

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Few individuals have witnessed Gukesh’s spectacular run in 2024 as closely as Indian GM Srinath Narayanan, who was the captain of the Indian ‘Open’ team in the Budapest Olympiad that won gold in dominant fashion.

In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, ahead of Gukesh’s showdown against Ding in Singapore that gets underway on Monday, Srinath spoke on Gukesh’s chances of becoming only the second Indian to be crowned world champion, and also recalled his first meeting with the 18-year-old.

“I think Gukesh begins as a clear favourite and his chances are very promising. I estimate the match 60-40 in favour of Gukesh,” Srinath, who had become the youngest FIDE-rated player at the age of 8 in 2002, told Firstpost.

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Gukesh and Ding have had contrasting runs so far this year. While Gukesh finds himself in red-hot form following his success at Candidates and in the Olympiad, Ding has not won a match in the Classical format since January.

The Indian, thus, is the firm favourite heading into the upcoming contest with several former as well as current players backing him to emerge triumphant in the best-of-14 duel that takes place between 25 November and 13 December, with tie breaks if necessary.

D Gukesh | Indian teenage prodigy from Chennai set for World Chess Championship clash with Ding Liren

World No 1 Magnus Carlsen and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, however, felt Ding had the slight advantage over Gukesh when it came to the experience of competing in an event of such a magnitude. The Chinese GM only got the opportunity to challenge for the world title after Carlsen withdrew from his 2023 battle against Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, bringing his decade-long reign to an end.

Ding would then pounce on the opportunity and defeat Nepomniachtchi in the showdown at Kazakhstan’s Astana to become the first Chinese player to win the World Chess Championship.

‘Experience isn’t the only variable’

Srinath too acknowledged the importance of prior experience in events such as the World Chess Championship. However, he added that Gukesh’s lack of experience at this event could also be a blessing in disguise.

“It certainly matters. Prior experience is a very useful thing to have, and who would know it better than a player who has won four World Championship matches.

“But experience isn’t the only variable. And sometimes, the lack of experience also helps in the sense that one doesn’t carry the old baggage of failures and old habit patterns. This enables a fresh approach,” said Srinath, who felt Ding’s chances of staging a last-minute comeback in Singapore after struggling throughout the year were “unlikely”.

‘Fierce’ first meeting with Gukesh

Srinath also recounted his first meeting with Gukesh and how he would go on to chart a meteoric rise in the sport.

“My earliest memory with Gukesh was my first game against him in a tournament in Mumbai, in 2016. Gukesh was one of the young and upcoming kids, and came at me fiercely. I managed to beat him in our initial few encounters, and until 2019 he was just another super talented kid from India. But post the pandemic, he really took off.

“During 2021-22 he started to distinguish himself even amongst the super talents. The way Gukesh has made the best of his opportunities - starting from the 2022 Olympiad to the Chennai GM last year to the Candidates, all of it points towards something special,” said Srinath, who has also coached world No 4 Arjun Erigaisi as well as Grandmaster Nihal Sarin and International Master Divya Deshmukh.

‘Vishy is a hero for all of us’

If he emerges triumphant in Singapore over the course of the next three weeks, Gukesh will become the first Indian since his mentor Anand, who had first achieved the feat by defeating Spanish GM Alexei Shirov in 2000 and later going i nto the win the undisputed world title in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

When asked about Anand’s influence on the current generation of chess stars from India, Srinath said that the 58-year-old is why many in India even got to know about professional chess in the first place.

“Vishy is a hero for all of us. He is one of the reasons a lot of us even know about chess in the first place. He is a pioneer. His brilliance and victories showed us all that someone from Chennai, someone from India can go out there and be a world beater. His role as a catalyst is staggering. Aside from that Vishy is always available to help for all of us, the value of which is immense,” Srinath added.

Gukesh had undergone training at the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy, which was set up by Anand in December 2020 where the 18-year-old was part of the initial batch of students. The Chennai lad would go on to dethrone Anand as the top-ranked Indian chess player for the first time in 37 years in August last year.

And the passing of the torch from Anand to Gukesh will perhaps be complete when the latter walks away with the World Championship in his possession in Singapore.