D Gukesh replied to Magnus Carlsen who criticized the quality of the World Chess Championship final between the Indian player and Ding Liren.
D Gukesh emerged victorious in Singapore on Thursday defeating defending champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship. The win made the 18 years old Indian Grandmaster the youngest ever world champion. The pivotal Game 14 started evenly with Liren striving to force a tie breaker. However critical blunder by Liren allowed Gukesh to secure the win with a 7.5 to 6.5 score.
After his victory Gukesh was visibly emotional shedding tears of joy. His triumph quickly went viral on social media with fans flooding the platform to congratulate him. However former world champion Vladimir Kramnik downplayed the win taking to X to describe the match as the end of chess as we know it criticizing the quality of the game. Kramnik also referred to Liren blunder as childish. Similarly Magnus Carlsen seemed to align with Kramnik opinion expressing dissatisfaction with the level of play and comparing it to a second or third rounds match of an open tournament.
D Gukesh responded to Magnus Carlsen comments after his World Chess Championship victory. When asked if he was hurt by Carlsen criticism Gukesh offered a different perspective. Speaking to BBC World he said Not really.
He acknowledged that the quality of some games may not have been high but emphasized that World Championship matches are determined not only by chess but also by character and willpower. I think those qualities I did show quite well he added.
Gukesh admitted that the match quality wasnot as high as he would have liked given that it was a new experience for him. The workload was different the pressure was different he explained. Despite this he managed to perform during crucial moments. It is understandable that I was a bit off but I managed to strike at the critical moments which I am happy about he said.
Although Carlsen and Kramnik criticized the match Gukesh received support from Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand. Gukesh was officially crowned as the world champion during his FIDE coronation in Singapore on Friday.
