World champions react differently with that crown on their head. D Gukesh is having a good time after snatching it from Ding Liren. He is the sole leader and in a good position in his first outing after that momentous win in Singapore last month. .
The Chinese he defeated had a terrible time after becoming the champion. His form dipped beyond imagination, he admitted to suffering from depression and became a shadow of himself in the aftermath.
Gukesh continues to lead a strong field at the Tata Steel chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee in the Netherlands. After 10 rounds and a second successive win, this time against Max Warmerdam of the host nation, the world champion is on 7.5 points.
Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov is close on his heels on seven. R Praggnanandhaa is third with 6.5 points after a win that ruined the chances overnight joint-second Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia.
“Not many would have taken the risk of opting to play in such a strong tournament right after winning the biggest prize,” Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua told RevSportz.
“Expectations rise after such a big win. I think anyone else would have taken a break for three-four months to rest and prepare afresh. It’s possible only for Gukesh. He thinks that to prove that he is the real world champion, he has to win big events. And he’s close to getting there in this one.”
In the three rounds to play after a break on Thursday, Gukesh faces defending champion and World No. 6 Wei Yi, Jorden van Foreest of the Netherlands and World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi of India. Wei is sixth with 5.5 points and has just one win, Van Foreest is 11th on four and Arjun at the bottom with 3.5. Gukesh will play with white against Wei and Arjun. Chances of him winning his first outing after winning the world crown on December 12 are rather high.
Barua feels the comments made by Magnus Carlsen and others — before, during and after Gukesh’s win against Ding — have spurred on the 18-year-old. “A lot of people devalued Gukesh’s triumph and the importance of this World Championship match. Carlsen is actually Gukesh’s inspiration. He is eager to show that he is a worthy challenger.” .
After winning the title in Singapore, Gukesh had said that he was “fired up” by the World No. 1’s remark that it was not a ‘true’ World Championship.
Gukesh has slowly gathered momentum in Wijk Aan Zee. He landed in the town by the seaside in northern Netherlands hours before his first game against home favourite Anish Giri. A lot of people thought he was losing until Giri blundered and Gukesh escaped to victory. He wriggled out of a spot against World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana in the third round.
In the sixth, he turned a seemingly lost position to draw in a rigorous and long end-game with black against Nodirbek. “Although he didn’t have time to prepare for this event, the work he had done for the World Championship must be working for him,” said Barua.
“The other factor is Gukesh is very confident, probably because of his age. He has tenacity, quite like Carlsen. You will see him get into long struggles in the middle-game. He will keep grinding and look for chances to turn a minute advantage in his favour. We saw that in Singapore and also here against Giri and Abdusattorov.”
Gukesh has scored timely wins also, other than the five draws. In the ninth and 10th rounds, he faced players rated below 2700. The World No. 4 with a pre-tournament rating of 2777 detected holes in their games and converted those to a decisive advantage. Those were crucial wins. He has also beaten two of his seconds from the World Championship campaign — Germany’s Vincent Keymer and compatriot Pentala Harikrishna.