Carlsen warns of pressure for Gukesh: 'First World Championship will be a test'

Carlsen says Gukesh is 'significant favourite' in World Championship clash against Ding

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway feels that on current form Indian star D Gukesh is the favourite to win the World Chess Championship title against Ding Liren of China in the summit clash beginning later this month.

Gukesh will take on defending champion Ding in the World Chess Championship to be held from November 25 till December 15 in Singapore.

The 18-year-old Indian made it to the summit clash after emerging triumphant in the Candidates Tournament, held in Toronto earlier this year.

"I'm not going to have anything particularly unique to say about the match. Based on the current form, Gukesh is a significant favourite," Carlsen said on Friday after winning the TATA Steel Chess India Rapid tournament in Kolkata.

"Based on peak chess ability, I think it's quite even. So, if Ding can regain that form, he has a good chance. Also, Gukesh was quite vulnerable in the last tournament that he played."

"But all that aside, if I were to predict at this point, I'd go with the guy who's played by far the best chess of these two players over the last couple of years, which is Gukesh."

However, Carlsen warned that since it would be the Indian's maiden World Championship outing, his primary test would be how to absorb the pressure.

"But each World Championship has its rhythm. It's something he hasn't experienced before, so I think he might take some time getting into it," he added.

Carlsen also felt Ding might be heading into the event as the "underdog" though the clash might produce an even contest.

"Ding probably justifiably feels that he's the underdog, so maybe he doesn't have that much to lose. Overall, it's not a formal conclusion."

"I think that some people think this match is almost a formality at this point, but I think there is more than a 50% chance that this match is quite even."

"I think a long-form classical match really doesn't interest me against anybody. So, whoever wins the world championship, I think that will be a tremendous achievement. But it's not something I'll be seeking to get."

Carlsen also opened up on the qualities essential to emerge winner in a competitive chess meet and asserted that a mix of both practice and playing plays a part.

"I think a lot of qualities are important when you play. You can't get by without tremendous amounts of practice, both practising and playing," he reckoned.

"Yeah, certainly when you're playing, all the preparation you can do is not going to do you any good unless you're disciplined while playing as well."

"Which one is more important? I think probably an overall game experience by practising and playing."

The concept of modern-day sports, including chess, is changing with the influx of technology, mainly artificial intelligence (AI), he said.

Asked about AI's impact on the sport in the future, Carlsen said he found it a "fascinating" tool to learn new things.

"I think the neural networks that came first with AlphaZero and then Leela, which was kind of a clone of AlphaZero, they changed the way chess is being played, especially in terms of openings and how you use certain imbalances in both materials, how you view and also game safety and so on."

"I think there was definitely a shift in how people evaluated certain things about five years ago. I think ever since then, everybody's learned how to use these tools. And so, they've probably been an equaliser more than anything else, seeing that preparation is now even more advanced than before."