STAVANGER, Norway : Reigning world champion D Gukesh says he is learning to embrace the expectations that come with holding chess’s biggest title, viewing the pressure as an opportunity for growth as he prepares for a world championship defence later this year.
Gukesh, who turned 20 on Friday, remains one of the central figures at Norway Chess despite a difficult start to the event that has left him at the bottom of the six-player standings.
The Indian grandmaster spent the tournament’s rest day on a sailing trip in the Oslofjord alongside players from both the Open and Women’s events, but admitted earlier in the week that adapting to life as world champion has been a significant challenge.
“It’s something that obviously I’ve had to deal with and sometimes struggled with,” Gukesh said of the expectations surrounding him.
“But pressure is also a privilege, so it’s a chance for me to grow through the challenge. Maybe it will help me. The last one-and-a-half years have been challenging, but they have also helped me build character and become a better person in general.”
Gukesh is preparing to defend his title later this year against challenger Javokhir Sindarov and said he enjoys the lengthy preparation process involved in a world championship match.
“I love the process,” he said. “But it’s hard for me to deal with the expectations, which I hope to handle better in the next months as well.”
World number one Magnus Carlsen, who relinquished the classical world title in 2023 and stepped away from the championship cycle, said expectations were among the most difficult aspects of being champion.
“The hardest thing was that there were a lot of expectations for me to find the World Championship as important as others did,” Carlsen said.
“I felt like I was doing it a lot for others rather than for myself. The motivation didn’t come from within a lot of the times.”
The five-time world champion added that he would watch the upcoming Gukesh-Sindarov title match purely as a fan.
“It’s not really about me. It’s about them,” Carlsen said. “I think it’s going to be a fantastic match. They’re so young and pretty exciting players as well.”
Despite his struggles at Norway Chess, Gukesh remains one of the game’s brightest talents and will hope the lessons learned from a challenging tournament strengthen his preparations for the biggest test of his reign.
