World champion D. Gukesh says that classical chess will continue to be his bread and butter, and that he doesn’t have “a lot of expectations” from the season-ending star-studded FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships, beginning here on Friday.
Gukesh is coming into the end-of-season million-euro prize-money tournament following an underwhelming season, which also included an early exit from the FIDE World Cup in Goa recently, and the champion said he was here to experiment, have some fun and enjoy the tournament.
“I think, for me, playing well in any format is quite important and I have been taking rapid and blitz a bit more seriously this year. That being said, I think rapid and blitz events have been slightly (of a) less priority than classical events for me,” said Gukesh, 19, during the pre-tournament media interaction, where five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen was also in attendance.
“So, this is an event which I don’t have a lot of expectations. I’m here just to play, you know, just experiment, enjoy and play chess with aim of having fun,” added Gukesh, who is part of a sizeable Indian contingent here.
Besides Gukesh, India’s R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, P Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi and a whole brigade of young players, both in Open and Women’s section, are in attendance but Carlsen and Iranian-French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja are expected to dominate the field in the Open category.
Gukesh said his aim here would be to play fast and make the most of the opportunities that come his way.
“I had some good practice from the Global Chess League (in Mumbai recently); played a few rapid games against some very strong opponents. So, I’m happy to be here to play more faster games and my strategy would be to just play fast and try to focus on each game and make the most of it,” said the teenaged Indian, who had defeated Carlsen in Norway Chess earlier this year but subsequently his form dipped.
Gukesh also indicated that survivability and tiring out his opponent is his mantra in tough situations, something chess experts have pointed out as one of his weaker points.
“In tough situations, the biggest motivation is not to lose. You try to just hang on… and most of the defenders, they also have this quality that they focus on just one move, survive for one move and keep doing that for a long period of time and (hope the opponent) makes mistakes, gives you some chances,” the young champion added.
Magnus, however, had a different take to the debate, saying it’s always better to go into a match “optimistic and delusional” rather than “realistic or pessimistic”.
“The best state of mind to be in during a chess game, and also in between games, is that you want to be somewhere in between optimistic and delusional. On the other side, if you are a little bit realistic or pessimistic, you’re simply not going to impose enough pressure and take enough chances,” said Carlsen, who is the defending Blitz world champion.
“So, it’s not always easy, it’s very complicated… look at the ups and downs during games and tournaments but trying to stay positive and have the glass half full rather than half empty.
“It’s crucial to turn things around. Personally, I have doubts like everybody else but having a positive attitude helps a lot… and I think Gukesh certainly has that as well,” he said, even though Indian world champion’s name wasn’t part of the original question.