Five points about Gukesh, the 18-year-old who could be youngest ever world chess champion

Here are 5 facts astir Gukesh:

Gukesh’s aboriginal start

Gukesh learned chess astatine the Velammal School successful Chennai astatine the property of seven. But helium has not attended schoolhouse aft Standard 4. Gukesh was successful Standard 1 erstwhile his imaginable was noticed by his archetypal chess manager Bhaskar V, during the extracurricular activities (ECA) period.

Even astatine that age, Gukesh was obsessive astir chess.

Bhaskar introduced Gukesh to his 2nd coach, Vijayanand, astatine whose academy Bhaskar was a coach. At the Vijayanand Chess Academy, Gukesh would commencement early, astir 9.30 am. Those aboriginal days, Gukesh would beryllium fixed 70 chess puzzles a time to solve. It was to assistance him with tactical and positional consciousness connected the board. After that, helium would instrumentality lessons connected chess mentation and middle-game strategy. Classes would spell connected till 7.30 pm.

Gukesh and a extremist experimentation

As Gukesh’s spot connected the committee grew, helium started moving with grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, who projected a extremist experiment. Vishnu suggested that the 11-year-old Gukesh not usage chess engines — which each subordinate uses these days — until helium reached a definite ratings threshold. Gukesh agreed.

Thanks to that experiment, Gukesh became “quite precise successful his calculations” Vishnu told The Indian Express recently.

“He has a bully applicable consciousness of what would enactment and what would not. He became precise precise,” Vishnu said.

Gukesh’s erstwhile brushwood with past

Gukesh could go the youngest ever satellite champion successful past if helium tin decision Ding Liren. Making past is not caller to him. In September past year, Gukesh had go India’s apical ranked player successful the FIDE rankings, surpassing five-time satellite champion Viswanathan Anand. It was the first clip successful implicit 36 years an Indian subordinate had been up of Anand successful the published rankings.

Gukesh earned his FIDE Master rubric successful 2015, and his International Master rubric successful March 2018 – erstwhile helium was conscionable 11-years-old. Gukesh missed the accidental to go the world’s youngest grandmaster by 17 days. He did acceptable the grounds arsenic India’s youngest GM erstwhile helium became a grandmaster astatine property of 12 years, 7 months, 17 days successful 2019. To get there, helium played astir 230 games a year.

He besides became the youngest victor of the Candidates tourney astatine the property of 17 earlier this year.

Mentored by Viswanathan Anand

Anand has been a mentor to Gukesh since his aboriginal days. The five-time satellite champion was the 1 who advised that Gukesh commencement moving with Poland’s Grzegorz Gajewski, who utilized to beryllium his ain second.

Gukesh was 1 of the handpicked prodigies that got grooming nether Anand’s ambitious project, the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy, which looks to replicate the Soviet Chess School.

“To play successful a satellite title aft Vishy sir is precise special. Cannot convey him enough. He’s taken it upon himself to make the adjacent generation. He’s the biggest crushed wherefore chess is truthful large successful India. He’s a immense icon for me,” Gukesh precocious said astatine the property conference.

Working with Paddy Upton

In the pb up to the World Chess Championship, Gukesh enlisted the services of renowned caput guru Paddy Upton, who has antecedently helped the Indian cricket squad triumph a World Cup successful 2011 and the Indian hockey squad triumph bronze astatine the Paris Olympics.

“Gukesh has conscionable been an implicit blessing and a acquisition to enactment with,” Upton had told The Indian Express recently. “I’ve conscionable been amazed astatine his self-awareness and maturity. Not conscionable his game, but his consciousness astir himself, his processes and his mind. He asks large questions, and is bare to learn,” said Paddy Upton successful an interrogation with The Indian Express.