2024 DEVE GOWDA: ONLY MODI CAN SHOULDER TASK OF BEING PM FOR THIRD TERM CONG CANDIDATE FOR SURAT REJECTED, TO MOVE HC Gukesh on threshold of history, Anand says ‘he’s steady and focused’

AS HE emerged from the playing hall in Toronto on Sunday morning after defeating Alireza Firouzja — a victory that propped him to first place of the standings with just one game left — D Gukesh was asked about his trademark unfazed demeanor that he has maintained all through the tense rounds of the

Candidates chess tournament. At 17, he was just a win away from becoming the youngest player ever to win the event held to decide the challenger to the reigning World Champion, but there were no signs of nerves.

“I’ve been eager and excited in the same way from the start. My mental state has been the same,” Gukesh said at the press conference after the Round 13 triumph that made him the odds-on favourite to be the designated No.1 Candidate to take on defending champion Ding Liren of China next year.

In another top-of-the-table duel, Gukesh’s closest rivals — Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura — settled for a quick draw. These results set up an exciting final round on Monday. Gukesh at 8.5 points is now closely followed by the three joint-second candidates — the two Americans, Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, along with Russia’s Nepomniachtchi.

Despite his opponents breathing down his neck, Gukesh played the waiting game. He didn't allow pressure to make him anxious. It was the French GM Firouzja who blinked first. The moment came when the two rival queens were faceto-face. Gukesh didn't shy away from a skirmish and accepted the queen exchange. This put him in a winning position. It would take him 17 more moves to seal the game.

Far from being overawed by the occasion, Gukesh has held his own against his experienced rivals when the battle stretched. “Perhaps, it could be my age,” said Gukesh, smiling, as he tried to rationalise an explanation for why he has been playing so well in longer games in Toronto.

His mentor, Viswanathan Anand, offered a more lucid response. “I would describe Gukesh at the Candidates as steady and focused. Focused because he appreciates the occasion and the chance he has got. And steady because he plays one game at a time and gives the impression of keeping his concentration on the game ahead of him. He is happy and excited at the chance he has got. But generally, he is quite level-headed about his tournament situation. I would say he gives the impression of (being in) control,” Anand told The Indian Express on Sunday.

This is not the first time Anand has been impressed by

Gukesh’s maturity.

Back in 2022, during the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, the gold medal was in sight for India when Gukesh, one of the standout performers, lost to Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov from a winning position, costing the team the top spot.

Anand tried to cheer Gukesh up realising that this was the sort of defeat that would impact a rising star. The five-time world champion said he himself had “games like these where there’s a lot riding on the outcome and

Maria Emelianova/ chess.com Mentored by Viswanathan Anand, 17-year-old D Gukesh is the favourite to become the youngest challenger to the current chess World Champion.