D Gukesh opens up on dealing with negative comments since becoming chess world champion: ‘I will continue to do my job'

D Gukesh had made history in December when he defeated China’s Ding Liren to become the youngest world champion in chess history. The 18-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai, however, has also had a fair amount of criticism and negative comments directed his way since his triumph.

Life hasn’t been the same for Gukesh Dommaraju
since he defeated Ding Liren to become the youngest chess world champion of all time, as well as only the second world champion from India after the legendary Viswanathan Anand. The 18-year-old Grandmaster had widely been viewed the next big thing in Indian chess for a long time, and began to live up to those expectations after surpassing Anand to become the top-ranked Indian player in 2023.

With his 7.5-6.5 victory over Chinese GM Ding in the FIDE World Championship in Singapore, Gukesh cemented his status as a superstar of the game. Gukesh, however, also ended up drawing a fair amount of flak from several members of the chess community,
with five-time world champion and reigning world No 1 Magnus Carlsen openy questioning the quality of chess that was on offer in the final.

Gukesh, however, has learned to not pay much heed to such criticism and to accept it as part of reaching the pinnacle of the sport. The Chennai lad also added that while he mostly avoids negative comments due to his minimal presence on social media, he takes it as a source of motivation if he inevitably comes across a remark or two.

Continue Reading on FIRSTPOST