CHENNAI: A stone’s throw away from the Leela Palace, the sound of a relatively calm Bay of Bengal was unmistakable. The genteel waves grabbed the attention of a few of the guests who were milling about in the lobby. Then, it was no wonder that they missed the arrival of D Gukesh, one of the country’s myriad chess prodigies. He may only be 17 but he already has enough achievements in a very short career. Becoming a Grandmaster as a child, an Olympiad gold, overtaking Viswanathan Anand’s ELO mark... you get the drift.
Over the last few months, Gukesh has crisscrossed the world in the hope of qualifying for the Candidates. He may have booked his spot had he beaten Magnus Carlsen in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in August but the Norwegian halted his progress. It was during that tournament when the 17-year-old became the top-ranked Indian in the Classical format, a mark that had previously belonged to Viswanathan Anand for 36 years.
Since then, though, Gukesh has been on a slightly downward trajectory. If the ascent till August had been on an escalator, he has had to walk on beach sand since then. Unsure footing here, a slip there. From a high of 2758, his rating is now 2715.5. It’s why Gukesh calls the last few months ‘very tough’. But there’s no time to rest. No time even for a power nap. It’s why hours after landing from London (he was taking part in the London Classic), the 17-year-old, whose eyes very clearly needed some sleep, was checking into the hotel. From Friday, he will be featuring at the Chennai Masters 2023, the country’s strongest Classical meet of all time (average ELO of 2711). On the couch waiting to be checked in, it seemed like somebody had forcibly woken him up and splashed some water on his face.
At the Opening Ceremony a few hours later, the twinkle in his eyes was back. It was also not hard to miss the punishing schedule the teen has willingly endured to try and qualify for the Candidates (at some level, this tournament itself has been willed into existence over the last few weeks to help Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, the other Indian with a chance of advancing to the Candidates this late in the season, garner crucial points in the FIDE circuit leaderboard).
Since Baku, Gukesh has played events in Dusseldorf, Kolkata, Berlin, Hangzhou, Doha, Douglas and London. In December alone, Gukesh is in line to play at least one competitive Classical match in 16 of the first 21 days. Then, he is likely to feature at the World Rapid and Blitz in Uzbekistan.
His mind, though, is only thinking about the next seven days. If he can win this tournament, he will be in first place in the leaderboard. “There are a lot of thoughts going on in my mind (what did you tell yourself when you saw other Indian players qualify for the Candidates?),” he said after the Opening Ceremony. “You learn to handle it (pressure) and put yourself on the board and give your best. “The last few months has obviously been tough but it was a great learning experience. To play now in Chennai is going to be something special.”
You normally don’t associate pressure with a 17-year-old but it’s fair to say Gukesh has felt it within handshaking distance this year. “It’s surely a new challenge to me, trying my best. Hopefully this time I will be able to bring my best. Different people have different ways in handling pressure. I have a very supporting family and friends. They are with me no matter what. Their company is something I look forward to... I also like watching some tennis.”
