History will see Gukesh’s win as a pivotal moment in chess: Carlsen
Five-time world champion Carlsen says it was heartwarming to see how much it means to Gukesh to win this title
Bengaluru: Former world champion Magnus Carlsen believes that 18-year-old D Gukesh, being crowned youngest-ever undisputed world chess champion is a pivotal moment in chess and could potentially be the beginning of something interesting.
“It’s been quite a memorable World Championship with lots of interesting moments,” the five-time world champion said on the Take Take Take app. “I think Ding (Liren) had a very real chance to win it, so in terms of that it was a success since it was a very interesting contest. I think we will remember the implications of Gukesh winning more than the final game. History will see this as a pivotal moment and as potentially the start of something very interesting.”
Carlsen chose to relinquish his world title, choosing not to defend it in 2022. It opened up the path for Ding to compete in the match against Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023. Carlsen said he was moved by Gukesh’s emotions after his win and just to see how deeply the Indian teen was fuelled by this singular dream of becoming world champion.
“There are certainly many more successes to come and it’s heartwarming to see how much it means to Gukesh to win this title. I don’t think I ever had that same dream as him so it didn’t really mean as much to me. I kind of wanted it to but I really didn’t see it the way he talks about it so it was a really beautiful moment.”
Gukesh’s journey – from almost not making the Candidates to becoming its youngest-ever winner at 17 and now the 18th world champion at 18, has been nothing short of incredible. Ding came into the match on the back of poor form and was seen as the lesser favourite.
“Ding actually did raise his level during this match,” said Carlsen, “and yet for all we’ve said about how we probably did expect even more for Gukesh it feels like he has had very good moments and he has had some really weak ones as well. But overall, I think he is a deserved (winner), especially when we look at the way he got here first. He was down in the Fide circuit, won the tournament in Chennai on demand to get here then had an amazing performance in the Candidates tournament. He played, I think, one of the better tournaments that we’ve seen in recent years and had a great Olympiad. In total, it is extremely impressive even if this match ended in a way that was maybe not as convincing as people would have thought from the outset.”
Asked if he thinks that Gukesh is on the path to becoming one of the greatest players, Carlsen offered that it’s a “little early” to say. “I think it’s a really good thing for him that there’s two years now until he has to defend his title because I think if he was playing somebody like Fabiano (Caruana) or Hikaru (Nakamura) in this match and played the same way, he probably would have had a very difficult time. Winning this Championship I’m sure is extremely motivating, so there is a very good chance that he is going to go on a great run of results now. Maybe even establish himself as the number two player in the world and who knows maybe in the not-too-distant future, number one. So that whole thing I think will be extremely interesting to see.”
Former world champion Garry Kasparov whose youngest-ever record undisputed world champion Gukesh surpassed on his way to a win, said: “Gukesh impressively surmounted every obstacle and opponent in his path, especially considering his age, and nothing more can be asked. My thoughts on the historical world championship lineage with Magnus outside are known, but that is not the story today.” Ahead of the match Kasparov had said that the match between Ding and Gukesh cannot be considered a World Championship since the world’s best player Carlsen wasn’t in it.
While his peer and fellow world champion Vladimir Kramnik called Gukesh’s win after Ding blundered, the “end of chess as we know it”, Kasparov wondered “which world championship, or world champion, was without them (blunders)?” “I had my share, and recall the double blunder in Carlsen-Anand 2014, g6. Matches take a toll. The level of play was quite high, at least equal to the previous match. Ding showed great resistance…Gukesh was well-prepared and the player who played the best won the match. His victory caps a phenomenal year for India. Combined with Olympiad dominance, chess has returned to its cradle and the era of ‘Vishy’s children’ is truly upon us!”
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