Watching D Gukesh's press conference on Monday, moments after he'd won the Candidates title, was at once surreal and explanatory. Other than the rare smile that at the very start, he spoke like it was any other day. Calm, composed and speaking in crisp sentences, belying his age - 17 - and the fact that he'd just become the youngest-ever winner of the 2024 FIDE Candidates. If the calmness and composure were surreal, they were also explanatory: Gukesh's ability to remain calm in the most trying situations was his biggest weapon at the Candidates. He held his own, no matter the outcome. Win or lose, he never let his emotions get in the way. His demeanour was even more stark in contrast to someone like Ian Nepomniachtchi, who quite literally wears his feelings on his face.
There was a comment in the press conference that underlined his serenity. Asked at what stage of the tournament he thought he had a chance of winning, he pointed to his defeat to Alireza Firouzja in round 7. It marked Gukesh's first [and only] loss of the tournament and, given the stakes and the format of the Candidates, could have unsettled him.
Gukesh, though, saw it differently. "I was quite upset after, but during the rest day, I already felt so good. Even though I had a painful loss, I was feeling at my absolute best. Maybe this loss gave me so much motivation," he said.
Gukesh has always displayed a maturity beyond his years. When he was 12, he missed out on becoming the world's youngest Grandmaster by 17 days. Again, another pre-teen might have crumbled at that point but Gukesh turned to Magnus Carlsen for inspiration. "I thought, Magnus Carlsen is not the youngest (either), so let's not look at it", he told Scroll.in at the time.
���� Gukesh exiting the venue after winning the 2024 #FIDECandidates! �� �� pic.twitter.com/REZMIfOO9q
- International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) April 22, 2024
Fast forward to the 2022 Chess Olympiad, where the India B team was within sniffing distance of the gold medal before Gukesh lost to Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov. It was a crushing defeat and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand was among the first to console him. But he later realized Gukesh did not need the consoling.
"He had this dramatic defeat and I tried to cheer him up and then at some point, I realized, there is no need to cheer him up because he's fine. He's generally a level-headed boy," Anand - who has seen his development from close quarters - told ESPN.
It's Gukesh's ability to remain stable that sets him apart, notes Anand. "The level of chess is very high at the Candidates and he's very stable. If you look at Vidit [Gujrathi] and Prag [R Praggnanandhaa], I think their level was also very high, but unpredictable. There were good and bad days and a lot more jumping around. But for Gukesh, I would say it really is the stability. And how calm he has managed to be."
And what makes that all the more stunning is that Gukesh is still only 17, a fact that continues to catch Anand by surprise. "For me, it hasn't fully sunk in that he's 17. That he is 17 is insane. To have the possibility [to challenge for the World Championship] itself at 17 is insane."
That maturity and serenity, perhaps, helped him deal with his meteoric rise in the chess world. In January 2019, he became India's then-youngest Grandmaster and the world's second-youngest. In August 2021, he was ranked 311 in the world. A year later, he was 38.
An incredible run at the Olympiad saw him break into the top 20 on the senior circuit in August 2022. A month later, Gukesh went past the 2700 rating to become the third youngest player in history to do that. In October, he became the youngest player to beat Magnus Carlsen since the Norwegian had become World Champion.
He climbed higher in 2023, going past Anand to become India #1, the first time in 37 years that someone not named Anand was India's top chess player. Gukesh brought up his 17th birthday with a win over Carlsen in a blitz contest and would climb into the top 10 of the world. He ended the year by becoming the third youngest-ever to qualify for the Candidates.
It's the sort of rise that brings its own pressures and expectations but if anyone is equipped to deal with it, it's Dommaraju Gukesh with his poker face. But don't be fooled by that shy smile - there's a champion lurking behind it