‘The name of the game is intimidation’: Hungry Gukesh takes on resurgent Magnus Carlsen

“In chess, the name of the game is intimidation. Both players are waiting for a point of defensiveness from the other guy,” Gukesh’s trainer Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna told The Indian Express on Monday. “This game is very important (for Gukesh). This could pave his way to the Candidates Tournament. This is the biggest challenge that Gukesh could have faced in the chess world at the moment.”

While Vishnu and Gukesh haven’t spoken about Carlsen since the World Cup began, in the past his advice to the teenager has been simple.

“I told him that Magnus will try to intimidate you but you will have to intimidate him back with good chess. People expect to make mistakes when they play Magnus. He does not have to do anything special. People play with the mentality that they will make a mistake. My advice to Gukesh was to avoid that and treat Magnus like a regular player,” he said before adding: “You need to stay sharper than Magnus. Magnus is a little less sharp than he used to be.”

Of fear and confidence

Earlier this year, as the clock ticked down on his status as the reigning world champion, Carlsen was hosting some of the world’s top prodigies at his club in Norway, the Offerspill Chess Club. At that camp, one of the players asked him if he adapted his playing style depending on who sat across the board.

“The most important thing I have realised over the years is that a lot of people fear me. That’s something I have definitely learnt to use against them. Once you realise that your opponent is not mentally prepared to play for a win, you can take a lot more chances. It’s very useful to sense the mental state of your opponent during games,” Carlsen told an audience that included India’s teenage Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and Raunak Sadhwani.

Carlsen continued: “(When I was young) I never ever lost confidence. But when you grow up, it’s a little bit different. Confidence is very hard to attain and very easy to lose.”

Gukesh, who turned 17 in May, has already had an exceptional run over the last fortnight in Baku, surpassing Viswanathan Anand as the country’s top-ranked chess player in the live ratings and reaching within touching distance of sealing a spot in the Candidates Tournament.

The 32-year-old Carlsen, on the other hand, stepped down from his decade-long title as world champion after he chose to sit out the world championship battle, citing lack of motivation and not wanting to put himself through the rigours of another campaign.

At Baku too, Carlsen has struggled to find the motivation and the confidence at times to skirmish on the chess board.

“Almost since the first day (of the World Cup) I’ve been wondering, what am I doing here? Why am I spending all this time playing classical chess, which I find stressful and boring? It’s not a good state of mind,” Carlsen told FIDE’s YouTube channel after managing to stave off elimination at the hands of Vincent Keymer in the fourth round.

The FIDE World Cup remains one of the rare chess events that Carlsen has not won. And he was rudely reminded of that history when Keymer beat him in the first game between the duo to push him to the brink of another early exit like in 2017, when he lost to world no. 35 Bu Xiangzhi in the third round.

“My thoughts yesterday were, if I lose and go out, that’s going to be another humiliation in the World Cup. I know I’ll forget about it in a couple of days, but still it’s less than ideal. Now I’ve had my first serious scare,” Carlsen said.

Since that scare, Carslen has started to resemble his old self, a man known to intimidate opponents on the board. In the last-16 encounter against Vasyl Ivanchuk, Carlsen rejected a draw offer from his Ukrainian opponent in the second game having won the first one.

“I’m not normally known for being merciful. Rating is one reason (for pushing for the win), but it also feels good to win,” he grinned.

Irrespective of what state of mind he has been in till now, Vishnu believes Carlsen will have ample motivation to take on Gukesh.

“I don’t think it will be the same against Gukesh! Playing Gukesh will be an exciting challenge for Magnus as well. That advantage (that other players had of Magnus not being motivated enough) does not appear tomorrow. Magnus will be equally motivated,” said Vishnu.

EXPLAINED: Format of the World Cup

The FIDE World Cup is held in a one-versus-one knockout format, where two players play each other twice in classical games to decide a winner before progressing to the next round. The open tournament features 206 players, with the top 50 seeded players only entering in Round 2, where the 78 winners of Round 1 will also be in the fray.

A win earns a point, and a draw earns both players half a point. If scores are level after the two games, the players play each other in two blitz contests with time control of 25 minutes for each player + 10 seconds increment per move. If no player is ahead on points after this, two more blitz games shall be played with time control of 10 minutes for each player + 10 seconds increment per move. Until a winner is found, both players keep on playing sets of two games with successively reduced times.

The top three players at the end of the tournament are guaranteed spots in the FIDE Candidates Tournament, which is held to decide the challenger for the FIDE World Championship.

INDIANS IN ACTION AT WC 

Magnus Carlsen vs D Gukesh (Gukesh to play white in first game)

Nijat Abasov vs Vidit Gujrathi (Vidit to play white in first game)

Arjun Erigaisi vs R Praggnanandhaa (Praggnanandhaa to play white in first game)

Fabiano Caruana vs Leinier Dominguez Perez (Dominguez to play white in first game)