Happy to see how proud the country is, says Gukesh

Gukesh has special words of appreciation for his coach Grzegorz Gajewski and mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton. | Photo: B. VELANKANNI RAJ

The youngest and newest World chess champion, D. Gukesh, arrived to a grand and boisterous welcome at the Chennai International airport on Monday morning.

As he walked out to the waiting crowd, joy erupted. The cameras went berserk, and there were rhythmic chants of “Gu-kaaaaesh, Gu-kaesh!” The mirth was tectonic. The crowd seemed to converge on him. Everyone wanted a piece of him. It seemed as if he, who’d been garlanded, was lost in the chaos before he left in a car.

Speaking to journalists at the Velammal Hall later, he said that he was happy to see how proud the country is of him and his historic feat.

When asked about the scepticism directed at the win, with people suggesting that Ding Liren deliberately blundered and lost in the last game, he said: “To anyone who understands high-level sports, it’s clear that if you play 13 games at a high level, in high intensity, having prepared for six months, and you come for the last game at a World Championship, you are pretty much dead at that point. We are basically two dead people playing chess. Mistakes happen in those moments.”

Speaking about his team for the World Championship match, he had a special mention for Grzegorz Gajewski and mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton. “Gajewski has been a huge support for the past two years. He has been my chess trainer. He has done a lot for me. Paddy has made sure that I am emotionally, physically, and mentally prepared for this huge challenge. I would like to thank them both.

“Paddy has been a very important part of my team. After I won the candidates, My sponsor WestBridge immediately got in touch with Paddy for mental training. We started working in preparation for the World Championship. I’ve learnt a lot of things and I enjoyed all the conversations that I had with him.

“In the World Championship it’s not only about chess, but there are a lot of other things as well. Paddy has had experience with high-level sports and high-level performance in different sports. For me, the conversations that we had and the suggestions that he has given me for this match and for me as a person to develop myself has been very important, for sure.

“I would like to give a lot of credit to Paddy. For example, I lost game one and game twelve, two very important games, and it’s very tough to handle that in those moments. His teachings have really helped me overcome those moments.”

Gukesh also revealed that he won’t participate in the upcoming FIDE World rapid and blitz chess championships in New York.