In a remark that would apparently not amuse chess-lovers in India, a country which has made great strides in the game of late, Russian legend Anatoly Karpov has called the feat of D Gukesh to become the reigning world champion an “accident”. According to him, the Indian grandmaster was not supposed to win the match. However, he then praised India’s system, saying it has helped produce a large number of achievers in chess.
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It may be mentioned here that the 19-year-old Gukesh defeated the then-champion Ding Liren of China in Singapore in 2024 to become the youngest world champion in chess, bettering the record of Garry Kasparov’s four-decade-old record. Kasparov, who incidentally toppled Karpov from the top position and reigned as the champion from 1985 to 2000, was 22 when he became the champion for the first time.
‘Gukesh shouldn’t have won’
Karpov, who nearly broke former champion Mikhail Tal’s record in terms of age in the 1975 championship, said in an interview to Russia’s KP.RU that Gukesh “accidentally became the champion because he shouldn’t have won the match against the Chinese (Ding Liren)”.
Karpov, who turns 75 in May, said this when asked about the dominance of India in the game. Gukesh is the 18th champion who became so at the age of 18.
When asked for the reason, Karpov told KP.RU that Liren should not have lost the match against Gukesh. But he then went on to applaud how seriously India has taken chess, and the results were showing. The veteran even claimed that organisers of chess tournaments in Europe had even contemplated restricting the number of Indian players participating in a single tournament.
‘India’s serious state programme in chess’
“If we talk in general about the situation of how Gukesh became the world champion, then this is the result of a serious state programme in India for chess. I don’t know who prompted their leaders, but already now Indian chess players have simply saddled international tournaments.
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“The government helped at least by buying an apartment or renting an apartment, which they gave to chess players, and they traveled from tournament to tournament, staying in this apartment so as not to spend money on travel and accommodation. And this gave results, many grandmasters appeared. And at some point, the organisers of chess tournaments in Europe even thought about how to limit the number of Indians in one tournament.”
“So that no more than three representatives of India participate in one tournament, for example.”
Karpov then rued that Russia, once known to be a chess powerhouse, is not producing as many players now, like countries like India.
Rues Russia’s fading dominance
“Our school has disappeared. In practice, the state does not participate. Only partially, one might say,” he said.
Liren was the favourite to win the 2024 showdown against Gukesh, but an error at a vital moment turned the tables in favour of the Indian. Gukesh is set to defend his title later in 2026, but given his current form, not many are expecting him to retain his title.
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In his title-defence campaign, Gukesh will take on the winner of the Candidates 2026 tournament, set to be held in Cyprus starting March 28.
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