Olympiad crucial for Gukesh in his World title defence: Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave believes the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand could be crucial for D. Gukesh in the defence of his World title. The Chennai Grandmaster will be taking on Javokhir Sindarov in the championship match in Geneva later this year.

The Olympiad, the ultimate World team event in chess, gets underway on September 15 in Uzbekistan, Sindarov’s home country.

“If Gukesh can capitalise on the confidence he has from his previous two Olympiads, in which he had excellent performances, and comes up with a great show again, he could suddenly go into the World championship in a much better mood,” Vachier-Lagrave told The Hindu. “I think it would be very helpful for him if he gets a little bit of confidence back.”

MVL, as the Frenchman is better known in chess circles, feels Gukesh needs a break to be certain that he could be at his best again. “He has been struggling a little bit with his results, but he has also been experimenting and got maybe too much out of his comfort zone,” the 35-year-old said. “He is a formidable opponent. I remember some really good clashes with him.”

Sindarov may be viewed by many as the clear favourite, but there isn’t any for Vachier-Lagrave. “You have two very strong young players who will be fighting it out,” said Vachier-Lagrave, who is playing for Cheq Mumba Masters in the Global Chess League here.

“At the last World championship, Gukesh was coming in really strong and Ding Liren looked like he couldn’t play chess. But, suddenly Gukesh was under pressure.”

MVL has his own World championship to look forward to. He is part of the pilot edition of the newly launched Total Chess World Championship Tour. “It is very exciting. I am glad to compete in it,” he said.