India, Feb. 24 -- The Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour commenced its inaugural leg in Germany this month, where Vincent Keymer emerged victorious at Weissenhaus. This outcome was disappointing for Indian chess enthusiasts, as the reigning world champion D Gukesh experienced a series of losses without a win.

The 18-year-old concluded the event in eighth place and is poised to return to Paris for the next Grand Slam competition, which is set for April. The Paris event will also feature Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa, thereby strengthening the Indian representation.

However, Gukesh appears to be uncertain about his future in Freestyle Chess, as indicated by his chief trainer, Grzegorz Gajewski. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the Polish Grandmaster expressed concerns regarding Gukesh's young age and the necessity for him to further develop his skills in traditional chess. He raised questions about the sustainability of the Grand Slam Tour.

"The critical issue is whether one is willing to adapt and alter their perspective on chess. If one embraces this format, it may adversely affect performance in the traditional game. Therefore, we face a significant dilemma regarding the amount of time we should allocate to Freestyle, given Gukesh's youth and the numerous aspects of the conventional game he still needs to master. While Freestyle is indeed exciting and innovative, there is no assurance that the Grand Slam Tour will continue in two years, nor do we know its future trajectory," he stated while discussing Fischer Random chess.

In a previous interview with ChessBase India during the Weissenhaus Grand Slam event, Gukesh also noted that Chess960 is merely an experiment and does not foresee it supplanting classical chess. "I believe 960 is an interesting experiment, but I do not envision it replacing classical chess. The Classical World Chess Championship cycle will remain significantly more important than 960, so I am pleased to engage in the 960 experiment," he remarked.

Gajewski's insights, along with Gukesh's earlier statements, contribute to a sense of uncertainty regarding his future direction in the sport.

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