The ongoing Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis gave the world a chance to watch both Ding Liren and Gukes compete in the classical format ahead of the highly anticipated showdown in Singapore to be crowned World Champion.
There has been a lot of buzz about how World Champion Ding Liren is doing well both physically and mentally since becoming World Champion. The one-on-one match between Gukesh and Ding as well as the rest of the tournament have piqued the interest of fans and players to know the level of both players. Grandmaster Anish Giri, who also played in the event and had a chance to watch both players up close, shares his views.
“Gukesh has looked extremely tense and extremely focused over the last few months. Too focused! I reached that stage as a kid too. But I felt this hyper-focus was too much. It felt like he was in danger of burning out. Maybe I'm wrong. Gukesh can handle it. Maybe that's what it takes to become world champion. Gukesh looks healthy and is playing quite well. He's not without mistakes. I think he has a good chance (of becoming world champion),” Anish told The Indian Express from St Louis.
Speaking about Gukesh's opponent at the World Championships, Anish said: “What surprises me about Ding is that his level of play in this tournament (Sinquefield Cup) is quite high at the moment. But you can tell he is not in top form yet. You can see it in the way he sits at the boards. He starts to move a little in his chair. You can see it in the way he breathes, coughs. The way he coughs you can tell it's not a cold but a stress cough. You can see how tense and anxious he is. He's a bit shaky at times,” Anish observes.
“This is a sign of incredible physiological weakness. It's very intuitive and very scientific how people get very nervous and can't control themselves at all. If you watch closely, you can definitely notice it. Even if you're playing on another board, you'll hear the occasional cough and you'll just notice that there's someone in the room who is very nervous. And yet that person can improve their chess level.”
Please stay calm
Anish felt that Gukesh's incredible focus could be a double-edged sword.
“Gukes's excessive concentration could be a problem because at some point he might get upset or angry if he loses,” said the Dutchman, who will be competing in the second edition of the Global Chess League for the PBG Alaskan Knights franchise.
Going into the final round on Wednesday night, Gukesh was tied for third place with four other players, including R Pragnanandha, while Ding was tied for eighth and Anish was last among the 10 players.
As a former Candidates Tournament participant, Anish knows all too well how difficult it is to win the tournament and qualify for World Championships, and he says it's especially impressive that at 17, Gukesh became the youngest player ever to win a Candidates Tournament, and did so on her first appearance.
“Very few athletes have won the Candidates Tournament on their first try. We had a lot of preconceived notions of how it should be. To win this kind of event, you have to really believe you can do it. I think that's what Gukes did! He's very lucky in that he has an erratic style, which means he was able to reach a very high peak and he did it at the right time (the Candidates Tournament). The fact that he was in bad form for half a year (the Candidates Tournament) is irrelevant. What matters is what the peak is and that you peak at the best stage.”
“Being able to play at your best when it matters is also a mark of a great player, a great champion. I believe there are two types of players: those who perform worse on the biggest stage, and those who perform better. And if you're the latter type, like Gukes, who performs better in high-stakes events, you have a very good chance of becoming a champion.”
