'Gukesh Has Nerves Of Steel'

'Gukesh displayed incredible fighting spirit, outstanding mental toughness, insane self-confidence, all qualities of a champion, and he just turned 18 at the end of May.'

"This is exciting for chess and for India, the biggest chess loving country! Gukesh will be an amazing ambassador for chess for years to come!" says Grandmaster Susan Polgar, inarguably the greatest women chess champion of all time.

Eighteen-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh won the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore on Thursday, December 12, 2024, defeating title holder Chinese GM Ding Liren to become the 18th World Chess Champion.

"Gukesh winning the title is a great moment for chess," Susan, the former women's World Chess Champion and the winner of 12 Olympiad medals of which four were gold, tells Venkatachari Jagannathan in an exclusive interview.

The eldest of the famous Polgar sisters (GM Judit Polgar, International Master and Women GM Zofia Polgar) of the chess world Susan before the world chess championship had predicted that Gukesh had a slight edge.

She said the rule of any game is to win with grace, lose with dignity!

"At the World Chess Championship one won with grace (Gukesh), the other (Ding Liren) lost with dignity! Class all the way by these two champions!," says Susan.

"Gukesh displayed an incredible level of fighting spirit, nerves of steel, outstanding mental toughness, insane level of self-confidence, all qualities of a champion, and he just turned 18 at the end of May. He is also professional, mature, humble and always conducts himself with class," notes Susan.

Gukesh, she says, is nowhere near his peak yet and he will only get better!

"Gukesh has the potential to be the best chess ambassador ever! Professional, mature, humble, classy, charismatic, well spoken, and well mannered!"

Your view on the Ding-Gukesh title match. There were comments that the games were not up to the mark.

I have no problem with the quality of the match. We had a champion (Ding Liren) who has had a tough time mentally and emotionally since he won the title. We have a talented challenger who is 18 years old, and had very little experience in match play.

In spite of that, both put on an exciting match. If people want perfection then watch engines play each other.

Did you think Gukesh would win the world title before the match?=

Before the match, I had Gukesh as a slight favorite. The score of 7.5-6.5 perfectly supported my prediction.

In your view, the ups and downs for each player?

Both showed moments of weakness in different types of positions, and both showed strengths at various points. And both are warriors.

Your view of the last game? What was the turning point?

As I said before the last game, time pressure would be a big problem. Gukesh managed his time well and Ding didn't in the final game. That was the difference.

Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com.