RAPID RISE

D. Gukesh is improving by the day, raising hopes within India’s chess fraternity

-  NEERU BHATIA

WHEN GRANDMASTER DOMMA raju Gukesh, 16, beat world number five Fabiano Caruana of the US in the recently concluded Chess Olympiad, he was asked at a post-match press conference: “You seem relaxed, happy, calm and confident—is that part of your personality?” The response from the Chennai boy was a serious “I am not sure,” followed by a thoughtful shrug.

You cannot blame the Indian teen for being economical with words; too much is happening in his world this year. “His evolution has been rapid and progress phenomenal,” Grandmaster and coach R.B. Ramesh told THE WEEK. The boy from Korattur in west Chennai not only helped his team (Team 2) win bronze at the Olympiad, but also won gold on the top board ahead of the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov and world champion Magnus Carlsen. His eight-match winning streak at the Olympiad has been compared to former world champion Vladimir Kramnik's run at the 1992 edition—he had also won eight in a row. Gukesh beat Caruana, Alexei Shirov and Gabriel Sargissian, and drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. They are all at least 14 years his senior and above him in the FIDE rankings.

Barely a week after the Olympiad, Gukesh was back in action in the Isbank Turkish Super League. Representing the Turkish Airlines Sports Club (THY), he won his first three games against grandmasters D. Gukesh is improving by the day, raising hopes within India’s chess fraternity Aryan Gholami, Andrey Esipenko and Vahap Sanal. His live rating is now 2726.5, and he is only behind Viswanathan Anand among Indian players. He is also the third youngest player (after Wei Yi and Alireza Firouzja) to reach 2700 in the classical format.