Winner decided not just by chess but also willpower: Gukesh

New chess world champion Gukesh D is hardly perturbed by the criticism over the standard of his match against China’s Ding Liren, saying big matches are not decided purely by how well a game is played but also by willpower and character.

Former world champions Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik were not impressed with the quality of games on display in the World Championship.

Asked if he was hurt by Carlsen’s comments, Gukesh said, “Not really”.

“I get that maybe in some of the games, the quality was not high, but I think the World Championship matches are decided not purely by chess but by who has the better character and who has the better willpower. And I think those qualities, I did show quite well,” he added.

Gukesh, though, conceded that he would have liked to compete at a better level.

“And the pure chess part, it was not at a very high level as I would have liked it to be because it’s a new experience for me. So the workload was different, the pressure was different. It’s understandable that I was a bit off but I managed to strike at the critical moments, which I am happy about,” said Gukesh.

Liren committed a basic mistake to surrender his crown, something that invited criticism.

FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich, though, said mistakes by players make the sport exciting.

Legendary Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand also advised Gukesh to not think about the criticism.

“I feel very happy. I was literally watching history being made yesterday. It (criticism) comes with every match. To be honest, I think it just comes with the territory. You ignore it and that’s all,” said Anand. “You know Gukesh’s achievement, the whole qualification, everything and his concomitant rise. I mean if you look at the Olympiad, he showed that he’s actually become a much stronger player.”