Two Indian Grand Masters competing in the World Chess Championship title in the near future is a high possibility, and Russian Grand Master Peter Svidler said if that happens he will not be surprised, given the country’s rapid rise in the sport.
Svidler’s remark came ahead of the World Championship clash between Indian GM D Gukesh, an 18-year-old chess prodigy, and reigning champion Ding Liren of China. The 14-game World Championship duel is starting on Monday in Singapore.
Gukesh became the youngest World Championship contender after he won the Candidates 2024 in Toronto, Canada in April this year.
“It wouldn’t be a shock, for sure,” Svidler told FIDE, the international governing body for chess when asked about the possibility of two Indians contesting the title.
“Qualifying to the World Championship match is difficult, even players like Arjun (Erigaisi)’s dominance this year, the amount of points he scores everywhere he plays is absolutely unbelievable but this is still not the World Championship cycle,” he added.
Svidler also said that should Indian players remain in contention for at least the next decade and a half that will not be a surprise.
“First of all he (Arjun) still needs to qualify for the cycle. He has a lot of circuit points and he might do well in the World Cup and so on but still nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the cycle. And then candidates presents its own challenges,” he said.
Svidler also emphasised that the Indian players will dominate chess for the next 10-15 years.
“So you can never say that it will definitely happen. But it is not going to be a surprise if, let’s say, Arjun or Prague qualify for the next cycle or the cycle after the next. They will be part of the conversation for the next, to me it feels like, 10–15 years, however long they want to continue playing chess seriously.”
Vishy, a role model
Svidler credited five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand for inspiring and mentoring the new generation.
“You have to trace it back, I guess, to the absolutely fantastic role that Vishy as a role model and also now as somebody who is very involved helping this generation, in terms of mentoring and providing resources and encouragement,” he said.
“Of course without him there would not be such interest in the sport and you cannot really overstate just how important Vishy has been in creating this generation,” he added.
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