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Journalism of Courage
Gukesh Dommaraju, who last year became the youngest world champion in the history of chess, has opened up about the role of meditation in turning him from what he called an “impulsive and short-tempered kid” to a calm, history-making world beater. The teenager from Chennai has earned plenty of praise in recent years for his poise and his ability to stay unperturbed even when he’s under severe pressure in high-profile matches. He rarely reacts during games — only a handful of times during the World Chess Championship against Ding Liren did his inscrutable façade crack.
Gukesh said that his transformation started when he realised that his inability to manage his emotions was bleeding into his chess results.
“I was always like a very impulsive, very short-tempered kid. I used to throw tantrums and like not manage my emotions. Then I realized that it’s affecting my chess because whenever I would lose a game, the next few games too I would be very affected by it and I would not be able to play well. So I just realized that I should manage my emotions better. That’s when I started doing some good practices like meditation and yoga, which really helped me to manage my emotions. It not only helps in chess but like all walks of life,” Gukesh said at an event in Poland’s Katowice, after playing in an exhibition blitz event against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Gukesh lost 5-1 to Duda, who was part of Gukesh’s team last year when he became the youngest world champion in chess history.
Gukesh was also asked which asana he likes the most. To this, he just said he did some basic yoga positions.
“I can’t say like I’m like that advanced in yoga or something like that. But like I just do very simple and basic movement while focusing on breathing. Most of it is related to meditation. I don’t really know much about yoga. I
just know some basics and I do that at work,” Gukesh said.
When the host asked him to show the crowd some yoga techniques, he said: “I’m not really a yoga master.”
At one point, he was asked if did deep breathing exercises during games. To this, Gukesh replied: “You’re overestimating my yoga skills.”
Gukesh will head to USA from Poland to play in the St Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, which is a part of the Grand Chess Tour events.
After the tournament ended, Gukesh and his father took a helicopter ride in the city, which he described as an “amazing experience”.
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Gukesh also said that he still has plenty of dreams he wants to conquer after realising his long-cherished one last year when he became the 18th world champion in chess history by defeating Ding Liren in Singapore. When asked what he is now chasing after becoming the youngest world chess champion in history, Gukesh said he was motivated by the dream of becoming the best player in the world. When asked what his dreams were away from the chess board, Gukesh said he wanted to become a “good person.”
READ MORE | Getting checkmated, losing on time: Gukesh’s blitz woes continue after 5-1 loss to Duda, who helped him become world champion
“My childhood dream was to become the world champion. But at some point it became just be the best player. The youngest and all these things didn’t really matter too much to me. It was about being the best and keep improving
throughout my life to achieve that. To be the one player in the whole world who is like the best player, who you could clearly say that this is the best player in the world. That has become my dream. It’s still a long way to go.”
Off the board, he said his dream was to be a “good person”, something which he credited his mother Padma with instilling in him.
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