I was prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to help India win gold in Chess Olympiad: Gukesh

PTI, Sep 23, 2024, 8:05 AM IST

Budapest: World Championship challenger D Gukesh on Sunday said he didn’t think about his personal achievements and was prepared to do “whatever it takes” to secure India’s maiden gold medal at the Chess Olympiad following near-misses in previous editions.

The 18-year-old Gukesh was a key architect in India’s historic victory, as the men’s team defeated Slovenia 3.5-0.5 in the final round to claim their first-ever gold at the prestigious event. The Indian women’s team also secured gold, marking a historic double for the country.

“I feel great, especially with the quality of my games and how we played as a team and despite many close misses in the past, we managed to dominantly win this time. I’m just super happy right now,” Grandmaster Gukesh, who secured eight wins in 11 rounds, told International Chess Federation (FIDE) after the match.

India’s men’s team was on the brink of winning the gold medal after defeating USA 2.5-1.5 on Saturday. Needing only a draw in the final round, the team went one better by defeating Slovenia to clinch the top spot.

“Yesterday we were in the team meeting, we were already in the celebrations mood. I was super excited but I hoped there would be no game. We forced ourselves to focus and come here, do the job, and then celebrate,” said Gukesh.

“I thought even if we lose the match, we still win on tie breaks. We wanted to win the match, of course. We were expecting a win. We were all pretty relaxed. But yeah, glad that me and Arjun got the job done.” Indian men had earlier won two bronze medals — in 2014 and 2022 (held in Chennai) — in the tournament.

“This tournament for me, especially since what happened last time, we were so close as the team to win goal. This time I thought no matter what I’m going to do, whatever it takes to win the team goal,” Gukesh told Chess24.

“So I did not really think about the individual performance much. I just wanted the team to win this time.” Gukesh’s outstanding run included a stunning victory over world No. 3 Fabiano Caruana in Saturday’s crucial match against the USA.

“I guess it’s just sticking with the discipline and staying focused on the tournament. And once you get into the rhythm, everything happens automatically. Once I got the first four wins, I thought I’d set myself up for a very great tournament,” he said.

Gukesh will challenge China’s Ding Liren for the world title later this year, but he said that wasn’t on his mind during the Olympiad.

“In this tournament, I wasn’t thinking about the match. Olympiad is one of the most important tournaments of the year and I was just thinking about the event, but it’s nice to see that I’m getting into shape and feeling myself.

“And yeah. Still some time left, so we’ll do some more work and hopefully for the match I’ll be ready.” Asked if he had anything to hold back during the Olympiad with the world championship in mind, Gukesh said: “I guess there should be a balance. Like there are some things that you have to think about before playing. There are some things you just play. I wouldn’t say it was such a big problem.

“In the Olympiad, I just wanted this, like, a very important one for sure. Not as important as the match, but a very important one for me personally. So I just wanted to give it my all and win this tournament.” Asked how the team will celebrate, Gukesh said: “Hopefully tonight, when all the duties are done, we’ll get together and maybe just hang out, laugh a bit.” On his training, he said: “It depends. When I’m at home I try not to work too much. Because I don’t have many other hobbies and if I sit with chess I might as well spend the whole day.

“But at this point, I guess also there is a risk of burning out and there is also the importance of saving energy. So I would say 6-8 hours on a daily basis if I don’t have any other commitments.

“When I was younger, it used to be more but during tournaments I try to keep it light when preparing and most of the energy is spent on the game itself.” How he handles pressure? “I think it’s about following some good practices over a long period of time.

“I’ve been practising meditation and yoga for quite some time already. And surely it helped and also I used to handle these things very badly before. But I think once I got a bit mature, with experience, I just got better at handling the situations.”