'D Gukesh Needs To Work On His Confidence': Indian Grandmaster Gives Big Advice

Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin believes world champion D Gukesh's slump is a matter of confidence, not class, and hopes the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Samarkand will help him turn the corner. Gukesh has struggled since his historic 2024 World Championship win, dropping down the ratings list after finishing last at both the Norway Chess and the Chennai Grand Masters this year, alongside low finishes at the Tata Steel Masters and the Prague Masters. "He simply needs to get his confidence back. I really hope he can do very well at the Olympiad. I think it will be quite important for him just to get his confidence back," Sarin told PTI.

"As they say, form is temporary, but class is permanent. Gukesh became World champion only because he's a genius, not because he's bad." Sarin, the 22-year-old from Thrissur, who won the Rapid section of the Tata Steel Chess India in January and the Chess.com Bullet Chess Championship in June, reached the quarterfinal stage of the Esports World Cup in Paris last week before losing to Magnus Carlsen.

As for his own career, Sarin remains focused on a simpler objective.

"I'll just try to reach my potential. I'm trying to keep in touch and feel good physically and mentally," he said.

AI has added new dimension but I prefer an era where engines were less powerful

Sarin would perhaps have preferred a different era of chess, one in which engines were not quite as powerful, but he is not resisting the changes that technology has brought to the game.

"It's just the evolution of the sport, like anything else, I think. A lot of new dimensions have come because of that," Sarin said, referring to the growing role of artificial intelligence in chess preparation.

"Preparation has a whole new outlook now. Nowadays, a lot of people know a lot of stuff, and it's about trying to find what is maybe hardest for your opponent to deal with at the board." The rise of powerful engines has changed not only how players prepare but also what they look for in preparation. With so much information available, finding something difficult for an opponent to handle has become increasingly important.

"It is tricky," Sarin said. "Personally, I think I would have preferred to be in an era where engines were less powerful." He does not, however, see the changes as something that can be stopped. If anything, he expects chess to continue moving towards faster formats.

Asked where he sees the game in the next five years, Sarin was reluctant to make a firm prediction.

"No idea. We have to just wait and see. I think more rapid and blitz will come. That's my feeling. Also, classical will probably get faster... just like how it happened in Test cricket." For Sarin, the growth of faster chess does not mean classical chess has lost its value.

"I think that classical chess definitely has its beauty. The depth of classical cannot be matched by other formats." But he also sees a practical reason for the shorter formats to grow.

"At the end of the day, the sport has to be marketable. I think faster formats, especially something like this, are much more viewer-friendly," he said. "You need viewers for the sport to grow and for the money to come in." The Esports World Cup has injected unmatched financial backing, elite production value and esports-style drama into the game. By treating grandmasters like professional athletes and introducing knockout formats, the event has sought to bridge the gap between traditional chess and mainstream digital entertainment.

However, apart from the changes in formats and technology, Sarin believes there are aspects of the chess ecosystem that could be improved, though he is cautious about prescribing specific solutions.

"Firstly, the rating system is a little bit... Also, the tournament invitations. I think there should be... I don't know, I'm not qualified to say what exactly it would be, but something should ideally change about how there are invitations to certain tournaments. In general, I think it's a fairer system." 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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