Gelfand backing for chess stalwart D Gukesh

Boris Gelfand 56 has worn many hats with ease A formidable chess player who was ranked in the Top 30 for 27 years World No 3 behind Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov in 1990 a World Cup winner a World Championship challenger to Viswanathan Anand in 2013 author of acknowledged and admired chess booksmanuals on decision making in chess positional dynamic technical a top trainer and one of the genial personalities in the chess world mdash he has done it allIndian GM D Gukesh plays against compatriot GM R Praggnanandhaa at the FIDE Candidates 2024 tournament in Toronto onApril 14 2024PicPTIInterestingly Israelrsquos Gelfand had also trained the Indian team which bagged the bronze medal at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022 and went on to bag a rare golden double at the recently concluded 2024 Budapest OlympiadIncidentally Gelfand had worked with talents like D Gukesh Arjun Erigaisi R Praggnanandha and R Vaishali in 2020 when they were promising prodigies yet to make their mark amongst the elite In an exclusive chat with midday Gelfand shares a few insights on the game of chess and Indiarsquos current strengthEdited excerpts from an interviewHow do you view Indiarsquos golden double at the Budapest OlympiadIt was an amazing achievement and probably the beginning of a new era of Indian domination in the chess worldYou have worked with most of the Indian youngsters How have they shapedWhen I came to India in January 2020 for the Microsense KramnikGelfand camp I met a group of extremely talented players It was clear that they would become top players but Gukesh Pragg Arjun and Vaishali exceeded all expectations and reached the top of the chess world quicker than we had anticipated or envisagedWho impressed you the most during the training stint before the Chennai Olympiad in 2022All of them showed different qualities Gukesh has impressed me with his ability to calculate very deeply Vidit has shown that his potential is much higher than his results I was happy to see him qualify for the Candidates in 2023 Arjun has shown that his creativity has reached new heights Humpy proved that her level was incredibly high despite the fact that she hadnrsquot played chess for a long timeDifferent playing styles warrant different approaches How crucial is it to develop a training plan to retain individual styleI think it is vital for aspiring chess players to develop ones strong sides and individual style of play On the other hand it is also important to work on ones weaknesses develop and fortify it so it wouldnt be easy for the opponent to target the weak pointsYou have been mentoring young talents Is it easy and quick for you to spot the prodigies from their natural stylesI think Im able to see the weak and the strong sides of chess players and help to develop them in the right direction But the most important thing is the ability to work hard and overcome the difficultiesAlso Read Say ChessGukesh Pragg Arjun Abdusattarov Nodirbek Firouzja Alireza Vincent Keymerhellip how would you rank themThere is no doubt that this generation will be at the top of the chess world for many more yearsWhat about girl prodigies Anyone who has impressed youIndian girls are also going up and showing good progress Vaishali and Divya are approaching the top of the ranking list and I hope that Savitha will join them soonHow do you see the Gukesh v Ding Liren World Championship goingFor the moment Gukesh is the favourite but a lot depends on the ability of Ding Liren to get back to his best formWhat would your advice be to GukeshKeep calm be confident and play your best chessThree decades at the tophellip how did you equip yourself for thatI just enjoyed playing chess and working on chess The rest is historyPositional Dynamic or technical What is your preferenceThere is no need to choose Everything is importantYou and Anand have been good friends Was it difficult to play him in the World Championship Is it possible to keep your professional and personal equations in balance at a long tournament like the ChampionshipI was happy that I could concentrate on the game in a good mental frame of mind and not to expect any unpleasant surprises from my opponent outside the board Of course it was an honour to challenge the great champion and I was happy to come so close to beating him