Gukesh brooks no complacency as he readies forces for World title assault Premium

Teenaged chess prodigy D. Gukesh faces experienced champion Ding Liren in the World championship match with high expectations.

Not often does a teenaged challenger start as the overwhelming favourite against the experienced champion. D. Gukesh is very much conscious of the fact that most people — including some of the world’s top players — expect him to beat Ding Liren in the World chess championship match, which begins in Singapore on November 25.

During a recent online interaction with select media, including The Hindu, the 18-year-old made it clear that such expectations did not put undue pressure on him. “It doesn’t really add pressure,” he said. “I am glad that people say this about me and, in general, I am happy with my form. The pressure is just playing in the World championship. But there is no additional pressure because of what people are saying [about my chances].”

People are saying so because of two factors: Gukesh enters the World title match after playing some remarkably solid chess for quite some time, including a superlative display at the Chess Olympiad, where he led India to the team gold in the most convincing of manners; Ding, on the other hand, has been in awful form and questions have been raised about his mental health.

The 32-year-old revealed that he had consulted a psychologist. “It doesn’t seem like I’ve been playing the way I used to,” Ding said in a recent interview to Singapore’s TheStraits Times. “The assessment is correct and I don’t know if I will ever reach that level again.”

He had taken a nine-month break after becoming only the second Asian to win the World chess championship last year, defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. “I feel as per normal, the doctor has given some advice,” he said. “Recently, I have been playing basketball after dinner, trying not to give myself too much stress.”

He said he was feeling okay. “Neither good nor bad,” he elaborated. “I’m not at my lowest and have walked out of the darkness from the last one and a half years… I have moved past that now and I feel like I have been playing decent chess but have not been winning.”

If you are a fan of Ding, all of that will not make for easy reading. But it may not be wise to write him off easily.