Judit Polgar agrees with D Gukesh’s trainer’s ‘different from standard’ explanation after winless Freestyle Chess run

Judit Polgar agreed with D Gukesh's chief trainer's observation that Chess960 is ‘completely different’ from the standard variant.

Chess960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, was introduced by legend Bobby Fischer in 1996, and it has always been a mystery among fans and players. It is a type of chess variant that randomises the starting position of the pieces on the back rank, reducing the impact of opening theory and promoting creativity in gameplay. The first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Germany was a huge revelation for fans, as Vincent Keymer beat the likes of Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana to reign supreme at Weissenhaus.

Chess legend Judit Polgar agreed with D Gukesh's chief trainer's explanation.

The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour is based on the Chess960 variant, and its opening tournament created a sense of excitement regarding the format. For Indian fans, it became a bittersweet memory as D Gukesh had a winless run and ended up in eighth position. The reigning world champion was in dominant form before the Grand Slam event.

Speaking to ChessBase India, Gukesh’s chief trainer Grzegorz Gajewski shared his analysis as to why he felt many top GMs were finding it hard to perform at Weissenhaus, and he stated that it was a totally different ballgame to the standard variant.

‘It’s competely different': Judit Polgar

At the sidelines of the Weissenhaus Grand Slam event, chess legend Judit Polar agreed with Gajewski’s viewpoint, during an interview with ChessBase India.

“Oh, it's completely different, because you have to have a completely different mindset, completely different priorities, both we are used to, because as I said before you cannot look for harmony really you have to see it very concretely in some ways. At the same time, sometimes you have to look at it very much from strategic point of view. So today was very interesting that there were two games where there were pawn plays, for example Gukash and there was another game also. So they pushed their pawns which was quite unusual. So it I mean, you're first of all not sure which pawn to make, right? Depends where your queen and bishop are standing. Accordingly, you think about the starting move. Depending if the a7, h7 or b7, whatever pawn could be under attack or unprotected, then you make your strategy accordingly”, she said.

“So, for example, Magnus was complaining that he cannot bring out his knight to g6 because knight f3, knight g5, yesterday, right? Yes. so there are a lot of small details which we are absolutely not used to, so you do have to have an extremely fresh look. I think there are very few things that you can put together and rely on from your classical way of thinking in chess. At the same time, I feel it is very interesting this is for people who want to blow and show their creativity on every level,” she added.

Freestyle Chess have confirmed Gukesh’s participation in the next Grand Slam event, scheduled for April in Paris. Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa will also join him in Paris and head a strong three-member Indian contingent.