The pressure has been increasing on D Gukesh following another disappointing Freestyle Chess performance at the Paris Grand Slam event, where he failed to qualify for the knockouts. This comes on the heels of his winless streak in Weissenhaus, where he placed eighth but at least reached the knockouts. The 18-year-old is the current World Chess Champion after defeating Ding Liren in Singapore last year, and is also the youngest person ever to achieve this title.

However, the way he triumphed over Liren led to criticism from figures such as Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik, who claimed he showed a lack of quality.

Yet Gukesh responded to his critics with a strong performance at the Tata Masters in Wijk aan Zee, where he finished in second place. His classical chess skills have been commendable, but his foray into Chess960 has been quite poor. He did not win any matches at Weissenhaus, and he just managed to break that streak in Paris.

Following his performance in Paris, Gukesh once more came under scrutiny and fell prey to a former second to Carlsen, Norwegian GM Jon Ludvig Hammer, who questioned his capability to maintain the title.

‘D Gukesh is universally accepted as the world champion and there is no questioning that’ Indian GM Srinath Narayanan swiftly came to Gukesh’s defense with a harsh response for Hammer and Carlsen. Speaking to Indian Express, he remarked, “I don’t perceive any deliberate effort to undermine Gukesh as the world champion overall. He is universally recognized as the world champion, and there is no doubt about that. ”

“Gukesh doesn’t particularly need to demonstrate anything to anyone. I have also not noticed anyone stating that Gukesh won the World Championship out of luck. Regarding Gukesh’s results in freestyle, I believe that 1-2 tournaments is far too early to reach any significant conclusions. ”

Srinath also offered a word of caution for Gukesh. “Gukesh certainly possesses the capability to retain the crown. However, it will undoubtedly not be an easy task, and his next challenger could very likely be one of his fellow Indians or someone from his age group. He and his coaches will have the best understanding of what he needs to do to improve and protect his title,” he stated.

“I don’t think a competitive rivalry will have any adverse effect on the sport. For instance, in tennis, there was a time when Federer (Roger), Nadal (Rafael), and Djokovic (Novak) were all tightly contesting for the top spot, and that rivalry was exciting to witness,” he added.

Gukesh will face Magnus Carlsen in the forthcoming Norway Chess, which will be conducted in the classical format. The tournament is set to commence in May.

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