Paddy Upton: ‘Gukesh studied the whole book to prepare for the World Cup… down to the smallest detail’ | Chess News

Competing in your first World Chess Championship match is the most difficult test the sport has to offer. Even Magnus Carlsen, widely considered the greatest chess player in history, felt his hands shaking as he competed in his first world championship. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand had told The Indian Express that participating in a World Cup plays tricks on the mind and creates moments of self-doubt and panic.

Gukesh himself suffered two setbacks in the fight against Ding Liren and suffered a defeat in the first game. Just like the Candidates Tournament. Then the Chinese grandmaster handed him another reality check in the form of a loss in Game 12, right after Gukesh won the previous game where it looked like the finish line was in sight.

The teenager recovered from both setbacks with remarkable composure and, at times, uncompromising chess.

“I am extremely proud of the way he performed throughout the tournament. As an 18-year-old, he was exceptionally mature at his first World Cup. We never expected him to make the perfect move every play, the perfect game every game, or the perfect tournament for 14 games. This is not possible. He always had some bad games, some average games and some excellent games,” Upton told The Indian Express.

The South African resorts to a simple analogy to describe the level of preparation athletes go through to prepare for the toughest tests of their lives on the field.

“If you want to do well on an exam or test, you must study the entire book exceptionally well. Then you can take the exam with confidence. You don’t go in with hope,” Upton says. “And as far as studying the entire book for a World Chess Championship title, Gukesh studied the entire book. Down to the smallest details, down to the way he manages his sleep, the way he manages his downtime, the way he manages himself from moment to moment within a game. We see an exceptionally well-prepared professional.”

While Upton understandably says he can’t reveal details about what they’ve talked about over the past six months, they’ve spent a lot of time discussing every aspect of his strategy in great detail. At the World Cup, Gukesh often closed his eyes and appeared to meditate on the board while his opponent took a long time to think about his next move. According to FIDE in-game statistics, he even spent half an hour on the board with his eyes closed in the first two hours of one of the games. While Ding often steals glances at Gukesh during the game, the Indian only keeps one eye on the pitch.

“We discussed both cases in great detail: when he makes his decisions about the moves to make and at the same time how he manages himself and his thoughts while his opponent is busy planning his move,” says Upton.

“Other aspects of his strategy that we discussed include how he should handle himself when he is ahead in the game; how to deal with yourself when you are behind in a game or under pressure within a game. We discussed how he would behave if he was ahead in the tournament with about a game to go; when he is behind when he has a 6-6 position. So there are very clear strategies, not just within a game, but within the entire championship, of how you deal with yourself when you’re behind, when you’re level and when you’re ahead.”

Since the World Cup stretched over three weeks, how Gukesh managed his downtime was not only crucial in game situations. Upton praises the team Gukesh has built around him – who, alongside his father, Dr. Rajini Kanth only knows coach Grzegorz Gajewski – to prepare for the rigors of playing at the World Cup.

“Gukesh was as prepared as possible for anything that could happen. When we say “prepared,” it’s about everything from his sleep, his diet, his training, to how he copes before a game and during a game. That’s really just a credit to his team and the people who helped put his team together to make sure he went into this test with confidence. He didn’t just go there with hope.”