D Gukesh has been one of the star attractions in chess since becoming the world champion in December last year. The Indian GM beat Ding Liren to become the youngest-ever world champion in history. Since becoming world champion, the pressure has increased on Gukesh, and opponents have been extra motivated to defeat him due to his title.
The 19-year-old is currently in action at the Global Chess League and is representing PBG Alaskan Knights. On Day 1, he held FYERS American Gambits' Hikaru Nakamura to a draw, and it perfectly summed up his year. 2025 has been a highly inconsistent year for the reigning world champion. He has failed to win a single tournament since beating Liren. Although he did come close to winning the Tata Masters in Wijk aan Zee, he lost to R Praggnanandhaa in the title-deciding tie-breaker round.
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World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana recently weighed in on Gukesh's status as the reigning world champion, pointing out that he wasn't the 'clear no. 1 in the world right now.'
Speaking after his defeat to Alireza Firouzja at the Global Chess League, he said, "I don’t think it’s the same situation. Gukesh is still playing at the top level. Just that you cannot say that he’s the clear no.1 in the world right now. But that’s also normal: that the world champion is not necessarily the clear no.1 in the world. With Ding, it was different. He was just in very bad shape. Gukesh is performing much better than Ding."
{{/usCountry}}Speaking after his defeat to Alireza Firouzja at the Global Chess League, he said, "I don’t think it’s the same situation. Gukesh is still playing at the top level. Just that you cannot say that he’s the clear no.1 in the world right now. But that’s also normal: that the world champion is not necessarily the clear no.1 in the world. With Ding, it was different. He was just in very bad shape. Gukesh is performing much better than Ding."
{{/usCountry}}"But it’s true he (Gukesh) has not had a very good year. Maybe next year will be better. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes into very good shape next year. But certainly after the world championship, it’s not been his best year."
Caruana has secured his berth for the Candidates next year, and if he wins it, he will face Gukesh for the World C'ship title. Praggnanandhaa will also be one of the favourites at the Candidates, and Caruana feels that the Indian has a ‘realistic chance'.
"Praggnanandhaa is certainly among one of the favourites in the Candidates. I would not give any one player huge chances. But he definitely has a realistic chance, especially with some experience behind him," he said.