D Gukesh hits back at world no.1 Magnus Carlsen in a polite way, Indian says ‘world championship matches are decided…’

DGukesh hit back at Magnus Carlsen in a very polite way as the newly-crowned youngest world champion stated that world championships are not won only on chess. Gukesh’s comments come in after Carlsen said his World Chess Championship final against China’s Ding Liren looked like a second round or third round match of an open tournament.

At 18, Gukesh dethroned the Chinese in the 14-game contest, winning 7.5-6.5 to become the youngest world champion in the history of the sport. He is also the second Indian after legendary Viswanathan Anand to achieve this feat.

Following his win over Liren, Gukesh was asked if he was hurt by Carlsen’s comments. The Indian replied, “I get that maybe in some of the games, the quality was not high but I think the world championship matches are decided not purely by chess but by who has the better character and who has the better willpower. And I think those qualities, I did show quite well.”

Gukesh also conceded he would have liked to compete at a better level. “And the pure chess part, it was not at a very high level as I would have liked it to be because it’s a new experience for me. So the workload was different, the pressure was different.

“It’s understandable that I was a bit off but I managed to strike at the critical moments, which I am happy about,” said Gukesh. Carlsen wasn’t the only one criticising the game.

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik too called the game “end of chess as we know it.” However, the criticism is believed to come in after Liren committed a basic mistake to surrender his crown.

Viswanathan Anand’s advice to D Gukesh

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, though, said mistakes by players make the sport exciting. Legendary Indian Viswanathan Anand also advised Gukesh to not think about the criticism.

“I feel very happy. I was literally watching history being made yesterday. It (criticism) comes with every match. To be honest, I think it just comes with the territory. You ignore it and that’s all,” said Anand.