"From the start, I was here to win": Interview with FIDE Candidates winner Gukesh

[Music] hi GES hi congratulations once again on winning the F candid tournament we are conducting this interview one day after the tournament is over so probably your emotions have settled did you have a chance to process that you are the youngest Challenger in the history of Chess uh yeah uh it's a nice feeling for sure I didn't get a lot of time I mean I had many uh interviews and uh and such but but yeah obviously can't be can't be happy who was the first person who congratulated you on your Victory um I guess my dad and my trainer gki so I mean they both congratulated together but then you probably got a lot of calls a lot of messages before coming here I was replying to all the messages and uh taking some calls so yeah really nice to catch up with uh with loved ones after after such a nice uh nice Achi well let's talk about this tournament a little bit um before going here uh how did you approach the preparation for the event um in the preparation I I didn't have a lot of time at hand I mean I qualified uh practically on like on the 1st of January basically yeah yeah pretty much so after that I I also had like three tournaments uh VI the Vos one and the prag Masters so yeah the the time I I wasn't playing tournaments I was training sometimes having uh having some training together as a team but yeah it was quite uh I think we prepared quite well and um in general I uh I think I learned a lot and improved as a as a play well you revealed that one of your seconds was gregori gski who was here with you but uh the other seconds they were also helping you but you never revealed their names why is that well first of all gaosi is uh uh has been my head trainer for like for more than one year so he's like the head of the team and he's been my trainer I mean overall he's uh taking care of my game and uh and the other uh uh other members of the team surely um a few others and they've played a huge role but uh not yet ready to fully reveal them as you the um path has only begun there still a long way to go uh yeah now it's not the right time so does it mean that you are going to keep the same team for the match that's why you don't want uh people to know who who this who this helpers are well it doesn't necessarily mean but uh yeah I just didn't think uh it was we I mean we discussed and we we didn't think it was the right time to reveal anything mhm so going through the tournament what was this pivotal moment when you uh realized that you are here to win and uh you have a real good chance um I mean from the start I uh I was here to win and I I thought if I if I'm at my absolute best I I have every chance of winning winning the event but the moment where I really felt uh felt at my absolute best and I and I thought um things can go really well was uh the rest day after the loss against aliraza mhm mhm so after that game I I mean I I was upset for for a while but already in the rest day I felt very good uh physically mentally and chest wise I felt very sharp and um yeah after that I think I was pretty confident that uh I have a lot of chances foresting so this happened after a loss actually so somehow this loss really motivated you yeah uh I don't know what exactly happened some some motivations just something fired me up from during your last game with Nakamura you were actually at some point uh paying more attention to the game of Karan and Nishi rather to your own game so if one of them won and you would still play mhm uh would you choose would would you change something maybe you would continue playing or try for more chances not exactly but um I mean during the game uh soon after I played B4 I knew that I uh I have a very good position and um soon after that after I won upon on I knew I surely not going to lose this position um I guess the draw was never really in doubt and uh yeah at some point I just got anxious and I was checking the other games I mean other game uh um but yeah the my position was just too good to mess up so yeah I knew I'd get the job done although I it's not the right it's not the right thing to do to pay so so much attention to the other game but yeah thankfully I I got the job done and know the other game also went perfectly at that moment did you have any thoughts going through your head about the tie break you know or you were just concent rating on on on here and now no at some point I was just just uh getting ready for the tiebreak even during the gamees yeah that's what I thought that you cannot escape this thoughts sure I mean it's I saw that Fabby is completely dominating and my game was probably going to end in a draw so uh I Was preparing and also after the game I went back to my hotel and me and my trainer were discussing the tie breaks briefly but then we got to know the result and obviously we very happy about it you're going to play the match at the end of this year um how will your preparation look like will you play tournaments in between now and the match uh yeah I I'll play a few tournaments I have some tournaments planned mainly the grand Chester which I'm also very much looking forward to but obviously the main focus will be on the on the world championship match and uh yeah really looking forward to starting all the preparations and uh uh yeah going there and giving my best it's always a challenge to play some tournaments before the match because you can't really Reveal Your preparation right so how you're how you going to approach that uh not sure I haven't uh spent time thinking about it but I mean I I would take in general I take every tournament I play quite seriously so it'll be the same obviously I need to do some kind of modifications but um I think the general approach should uh should just be the same as it always has been well let's talk about your chess career in general uh so you're the youngest Challenger and in many interviews you said that that you uh want not just to be the world champion but the youngest world champion so why is it so important for you to be the youngest um I mean it's uh I probably said it when I was uh a few years back uh when all these youngest records actually mattered to me but right now I just want to be the want to be the best I don't care about being the youngest or uh all these uh Records but I just want to know I I just want to be the best and when I achieve it I really um need to be uh need to represent myself at that level so yeah that that's what I'm uh it matters to me now nowadays you started to play chess when you were seven mhm so it's not uh that long ago it's just 10 years ago actually and uh according to mod standards Maybe you started even late just at 7 years old how did it happen yeah probably uh 7 is already a bit too late to start yeah these days it's like yeah yeah five is probably the common common age but okay I mean it started u like very normally I mean I used to watch my parents play and just as a hobby at home and I used to just sit and watch and after that I um there was a kind of summer camp in my school and there we had like lot of um extracurricular activities I tried some uh some other stuff first like some AB backers and stuff but but eventually I ended up in chess and there one of one of the trainers uh noticed that I probably have some uh some talent in chess yeah it basically started from there I mean from there it slowly started to get more serious but yeah uh it started in a very normal way and when did you realize that you want to be HS professional so first you were just playing casually then you started to train a little bit but when was this moment when you just realized well I'm very good at it and I want to be professional um I there there never really was that kind of moment actually from from the time I started playing chess that is the only thing that was uh um like occupying me I was with chess all the time obviously I was probably too young at that time to realize what profession is but mhm but uh yeah I led doing it and it was taking up most of the time and when I was mature enough I was already uh very good at chess so it was kind of obvious what was this thing that captivated you about Chess when you were a kid um I think just uh just the complexity of the game I mean it's still what I admire most about Chess there are so many things to learn and each day you keep you keep learning everything I mean you keep learning something new uh and there's no stopping point to learning um yeah I mean literally people have been playing for thousands of years and no one has been able to understand that well uh you thank your parents many times in your interviews uh they are both medical workers right yeah so can you say that they sacrificed their career for for you for to help you with your chess career yeah sure um both my parents have uh gone through a lot and sacrificed a lot uh uh know for for me to be here and my father pretty much uh quit his practice mhm like not completely but once uh I started traveling abroad for tournaments he um he gave up most of his practice and nowadays he only consults when he's at home which is quite quite rare um so he is the one traveling with you mostly yeah pretty much all the time and my mom still uh is still working she is um I mean she her Pro her sacrifice is also quite quite tough she has to stay away from me most of the time when I'm training when I'm uh when I'm playing and uh it's tough for her but it's uh yeah surely lot of lot of sacrifices from both my parents do you have any siblings if I may ask no I I'm the I'm the only J oh then it's even more tough on your mother not to see you for such long time sure that's why uh after tournaments going back home the couple of days will be the best uh uh very enjoyable now when you go back home what will you do the first thing you do uh meet my mom firstly and after that uh yeah just looking forward to spending some time with family some some nice time with friends yeah just having some relaxed time I mean three stressful weeks some uh cooling off time is good for me will you allow yourself some rest or will you start training very soon in a couple of days uh not sure actually I mean I always plan something after tournaments to have certain things this way and it never goes according to plans um I'll just listen to myself see what my mind says and go uh go according with how I'm feeling can you describe your casual day at home what do you do you wake up you go to some studies or How does it go you mean my casual yeah just just a casual day at home no when you're are not playing a tournament um yeah when I'm not playing a tournament I'm mostly training so I yeah I from the time I wake up it's basically chess maybe some breaks in between and uh some things related to CH some mental training and some uh some sports just as physical uh activity but uh yeah most of the time is spent on uh spent with chess and some time for maybe some relaxation like reading or watching something mhm and how about your school how did you manage to combine these things uh I've pretty much quit uh quit my schooling uh well I'm not not fully yet but uh I haven't really been a regular school goer for like I don't even remember how many years like probably six or seven years already so yeah I'm I'm fully Ines and my school is also very supportive of that they give me additional class I mean classes and uh yeah just uh some something special if if I need then they give me permissions so that I can just uh train and play whenever I want but how does it look like do you have some to to go for some exams at the end of the year or pretty much nothing you can just play chess concentrate on that and uh you don't really need to go there at all no I I used to write exam Stiller point but last few I mean last couple of years I haven't haven't really written any exams so yeah it means you also don't really socialize with your school peers probably your environment is only chess friends or do you have some friends outside of chess no my chess friends are like we meet only in tournaments and tournaments it's always bit uh weird to socialize mhm so no at home I do have uh I do have friends I um I mean I play some sports and I know some people from uh from there and also I have some family friends and uh yeah at home I um I do have I do kind of make some time to spend uh spend with my family and friends it's it's always nice to have some kind of social socializing um so you said you play some sports with your friends uh what other kinds of sports you play and do you think it is important to have a good physical condition for a chess player yeah I I I mostly play tennis nowadays mhm I mean I'm very young AG I was I've really been into sports different kinds of sports but recently uh uh tennis has been the main thing and uh yeah I think it's very very important uh for chess players to be in the right right physical state because the difference at the I mean the level difference at the top is very very small and every little thing matters so yeah being uh able to focus in the sixth seventh hour is uh is really really important who is the person that inspires you the most in chess not necessarily maybe in chess maybe maybe not uh no I mean from a very young age uh wishes obviously has been uh the biggest inspiration and I mean I knew about knew about him even before I started playing chess playing chess after I started playing chess obviously grew even further um and uh apart from wishes I I'm really inspired by jokovic mhm the tennis player so yeah I would say these two uh these two are currently so it means you also watch tennis you don't just play it but you're probably following the game yeah uh I used to follow more than I used to play but noway I play more than I than I'm following I I follow from time to time some important matches I I make sure to watch but mhm but yeah nowadays I'm not really following a lot actually and you mentioned that you like to read books so what do you read what do you read right now for example um it's most mostly some sports autobiographies M mhm reading about some sports person I think it's um it's uh it's helpful in a way but also I I just enjoy enjoy reading about uh know great people's life and do you compare your own uh career with them or your own situations that you challenges maybe yeah sure you can learn a lot of things I mean from any great GR of any field surely they I mean there's some qualities that is required to be good at anything and uh surely the reading about uh other great sports persons really help uh really have helped me to find my own way and to do the right things and to be disciplined and do you ever read chess books or is it for the older Generation Um I I do read chess books not not a lot but uh I think in this generation if we compare I'm pretty much I'm in the top top uh readers but but if we take the previous generation I'm probably way down here but uh there are some books I've read and I really enjoyed but it's not I don't really reg I don't regularly read read chess books so how do you usually draw your chess information from like from where do you draw it um computer just some lines streams maybe um yeah not really streams but um I mean I I guess you nowadays you work with computers most of the time you you analyze some open and not only openings but the resulting positions and you maybe check some classic games in in the lines you you played obviously some iname uh in games and some solving I guess this the general training pattern of pretty much yeah it's the same for mhm uh another thing which is probably generational uh a lot of people consider this new generation of players very Universal like you don't not you necessarily but all of you like you don't have a special style in chess you can play whichever position in whichever way do you agree with this or do you think you actually have some style that you can characterize in in a way um I think uh not not style exactly but um nowadays it it's just uh a must to be Universal because everyone has the same kind of knowledge and you have to be really good at everything to uh POS problems for your for your opponent and obviously you uh you will have some kind of preference for some positions it depends on the players but um I think nowadays no one has this kind of specific style that he can just stick to and uh things just work out for him I mean if you're so predictable people will just catch you all the time and mhm um yeah it's just uh required to be to be as universal as possible and being Universal you still have some preferences so what which positions are your preference do you like more positional play maybe some Tactical complications um well ideally you would like to not have any preference and just play according to what the position demands um but if I have any kind of preference I would say I um I'm slightly better at uh maybe just aggressive positions or dynamic positions then than the other than positional ones but I think I'm pretty good at at everything yeah everything well you will return back to India now and everybody will recognize you on the streets are you ready for that are you ready to become a really famous person in your country uh till now it has not been a huge problem I mean obviously I get recognized from time to time but it has not uh been like whenever I go out I'm uh like I'm swarmed or anything it probably will be now uh not not very sure about that I mean I don't know what's happening back in India so maybe I'm biased but okay I need to go back and find out but even if it's if it is the case I uh I've never really had a problem with uh um like handling you know the media pressure or general pressure from from the general expectations from the um from the public and yeah I'm pretty sure I can I can handle it well thank you and now go back home and find out how many people will recognize you I bet there will be a lot thank you [Music]

Channel: FIDE chess

Views: 27,631

Keywords: chess, fide, world, game, board games, mind game, mind power, brain game, chess interview, chess comments, commented games, chess news, FIDE, international chess federation, chess game, gukesh d, gukesh candidates, gukesh champion

Id: 3FtGz7os8sM

Length: 25min 21sec (1521 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 27 2024