Becoming the World champion is probably easier than being one. This might be running through the mind of D. Gukesh, who is set to defend his title in a few months’ time.

The 20-year-old Grandmaster has been going through a prolonged lean spell as the championship clash against Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov looms.

Gukesh hasn’t won a tournament since his stunning triumph in Singapore, and the performances have been below-par to say the least. At the just-concluded Chennai Grand Masters here, he lost three games and couldn’t buy a win while finishing last in a field of eight. He now has only the Olympiad in September to regain form and be ready to face Sindarov.

Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand said Gukesh still had time to get out of the rut, adding: “He must be disappointed with the results, but he will anyway play some more games. He’s had a bad streak for a while, but he can snap out of it.”

N. Srinath, the captain of the Open team in the upcoming Olympiad, isn’t concerned about the form of Gukesh, who was on the top board during the victorious campaign in Budapest two years ago. In this regard, he pointed out that R. Vaishali had a similarly difficult time in the Chennai Grand Masters’ Challengers event last year.

“Vaishali won the Grand Swiss title a few months later and then the Candidates. Slumps in form can happen, but class is permanent. It takes only one game, one critical moment to regain confidence,” Srinath said, batting for Gukesh.

  

If the India Open team is to replicate its near-perfect Chess Olympiad 2024 campaign, it will take some doing.  

India will have the ‘defending champion’ tag attached to it throughout the global competition in Samarkand in September and will be expected to deliver another strong show. But captain N. Srinath stressed that his squad will not carry any “baggage”, saying that it will begin from square one just like any other team. 

“We will not do that (put themselves under pressure for being the reigning champ); we are all professionals. We start from zero this time. But we will definitely look to have the positive team spirit which we had in the last Olympiad. We will continue to have fun,” Srinath said on the sidelines of the just-concluded Chennai Grand Masters here. 

The non-playing leader is optimistic about retaining the crown despite the indifferent form of some of his squad members. World champion D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin make up the playing contingent.

“I am pretty confident that we will do excellently. Before the last Olympiad, we never thought that we would win the way we did. We will have the same approach, but we will know about the form of our players only after the first few rounds. So, it is hard to say which team will set the standards. Host Uzbekistan, the USA and China will be among the top challengers, but we have an excellent chance,” Srinath added. Will his players walk the talk?

The Indian squads: Open: D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin; captain: N. Srinath. Women: Koneru Humpy, R. Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal and B. Savitha Shri; captain: Swayams Mishra.