‘Been tough’ Under pressure Gukesh targets Candidates berth at Chennai Grand Masters Chess tournament | Chess News

The blood shot eyes of Gukesh D as he was checking-in at a city hotel which will host the Chennai Grand Masters beginning from Friday revealed a story in itself. Having flown in from the Heathrow — after the London Chess Classic, where he finished third — only on Thursday early morning, Gukesh was battling jet-leg. That, however, would be the last thing on his mind, as the 17-year-old turns all his attention to the week ahead on his home turf where a top spot finish would put him in a pole position to make the Candidates.
Conditions usually don’t matter in this sport, but for Gukesh the homecoming couldn’t have come at a better time. After overtaking Viswanathan Anand as the highest ranked Indian during the World Cup, where his run was ended Margus Carlsen in the quarterfinals, it has been a mixed bag for Gukesh. For someone who only saw his graph ascend, the last few months have been particularly testing, where he has lost on crucial ELO points that has hampered his prospects of featuring in the Candidates next year. From a career-high rating of 2758, which saw him ranked No 8 in the world, he now has 2720 and is ranked No 28.
For months, a Candidates berth has been the lone topic that has been occupying his mind, which has even led to him putting additional pressure on himself. Such has been his fixation that for the London event, even his parents accompanied him, in an attempt to calm him down and take his mind of the event. On Thursday evening, he rarely sported a smile during the launch of the event where he has been pitted against Levon Aronian in the first round.

“It’s surely a new challenge for me,” Gukesh said. “It is a new thing to handle. I’m trying my best and hopefully this time, I’ll be able to bring out my best. Last few months, obviously, have it been quite tough but it was a great learning experience. I’ve a very supportive family and a group of friends I hang out with and their company is something I look forward to. But there is nothing like good results. This tournament comes at a good time. It is very special for me since it is happening in Chennai. It is going to be really tough as there are lot of interesting players,” Gukesh said.
Few know Gukesh better than Velavan Subbiah, the chess coordinator at Velammal School, the GM’s alma mater. Having accompanied Gukesh to overseas tours for world school chess and other events, Velavan has first-hand experience of how Gukesh operates, especially when the chips are down. With his other prodigy R Praggnanandhaa having already booked the Candidates berth, he is now hoping Gukesh follows suit.
“I feel this is destiny. At the Olympiad held here, he did really well and this time, I’m fully backing him to win this and make it to the Candidates. Of course, he has been under pressure, but from what I have seen, when he has backs to the wall, he usually becomes aggressive. He hasn’t experienced a low phase yet, so even for him this is new,” Velavan told The Indian Express.
To ease the pressure on Gukesh, there were some familiar faces in the crowd, just to make him feel lot more comfortable in the surroundings. With only World Rapid and Blitz tournament up next, this tournament is seen the likes of Anish Giri (who is also in fray to make Candidates, but not featuring here) as one introduced in the calendar to help Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi have another shot at sealing Candidates spot. But with this being the highest rated event ever to be held in India (2711), and with the likes of Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo, Hungary’s Sanan Sjugirov, Ukraine’s Pavel Eljanov, Serbia’s Alexandr Predke and India’s P Harikrishna also in the mix, the week ahead is not going to be easy for Gukesh.
For Gukesh, winning the tournament would bolster his chances of overtaking Giri, who is leading the FIDE Circuit standings. In case, Gukesh wins the tournament or emerges as a joint-leader he will be in pole position to make it. If he doesn’t walk away with the title here, then it would come down to World Rapid and Blitz event which is scheduled for later this month at Samarkand, Uzbekan.
Erigaisi has to win the tournament to make the Candidates. “I’m super excited. This is the first Super tournament that we are having in India and it has a lot of exciting players. It is a very strong, closed event,” he told Chessbase.com. “This is the strongest I’ve ever played. It is good that I’m still with a chance of making it to the Candidates, but I’m not going to put any pressure because of that.”