Gukesh crowned world chess champion: “That doesn’t mean I’m the best player in the world, that’s obviously Magnus” | Chess News

Gukesh said knowing that there is someone out there at such a superior level will be a motivating factor for him in the years to come. “This will help me continue to do the right things, work hard and try to achieve the level of greatness that Magnus achieved.”

Later, he was asked an even more specific question: Who should be his next challenger – his teammates with whom he dominated the Chess Olympiad this year, or the great Carlsen? By comparison, Carlsen had said he would not defend his World Cup title in 2022 because he was no longer interested in playing the game after winning it five times, even though it might be historically significant. “I don’t rule out participating in the future, but I wouldn’t expect it either,” Carlsen was quoted as saying by Chess.com in July 2022.

“Of course it would be great to play against Magnus at a world championship, it would be the biggest challenge there is in chess. I mean, it’s up to Magnus, but I would like to test myself against the best player in the world,” said Gukesh.

Speaking about possibly playing against his Indian teammates, Gukesh added: “Arjun, Pragg, Nihal, Vidit… – a lot of these guys do a lot for chess and Indian chess. We won the Olympics, which was a nice experience for me and the team. I am sure that we will have a very long career ahead of us and I hope that we will all continue to fight against each other, continue to push, motivate each other and also play together in the team tournaments and win a lot more. I would also like to play against Indian opponents in the World Cup.”

Gukesh said this was the dream he had been chasing all along, recalling another Carlsen moment from his childhood, at age 7. “When I was watching the 2013 game (Vishy vs Carlsen in Chennai), I was in the stands and I looked in the glass box and thought it would be so cool to be inside (playing) one day. And then when Magnus won, I thought, I really want to be the one to bring the title back to India and that dream that I had more than a decade ago has been the most important thing in my life so far,” Gukesh said.