'Golden era for Indian chess'

Indian Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna who was part of world champion Dommaraju Gukeshrsquos team believes his world title will serve as a huge inspiration to youngsters and has led Indian chess into a golden eraGukesh 18 beat defending champion Ding Liren of China 7565 in the 14game championship in Singapore on Thursday to become the youngest world championPentala HarikrishnaldquoWe saw Indian chess on a high when Viswanathan Anand was world champion till 2013 and after 11 years we have Gukesh India also won the Olympiad gold team competition earlier this year This is total domination by us This is the golden era of Indian chessrdquo Harikrishna 38 told midday over the phone from Malaga Spain where most of the team was basedApart from Harikrishna Team Gukesh comprised four Polish Grandmasters and mental trainer Paddy Upton ldquoWe were working remotely Therersquos a sevenhour time difference between Singapore and Spain so we worked on strategies accordingly and then presented them to Gukesh Our team focused on the openings and helped Gukesh get more adventurous and intense in his games I also had some intense endgame sessions with him We held prematch sessions and also sessions during the championship Our preparation started around 11 months ago Being the only Indian among the seconds was helpful Gukesh knows all of us well but he was a little more comfortable with me as I have been his teammate toordquo added HarikrishnaThe former world junior champion underlined the significance of Uptonrsquos role ldquoIn the past we had never known about this mental aspect but Gukesh clearly felt more comfortable after his sessions with Upton It helped him to have a nice sleep and remain calm Thatrsquos very important in a tournament like the world championship In fact in any highintensity game holding your nerve is very crucial because one blunder like what Ding did in Game 14 can be disastrous Upton ensured Gukesh remained mentally strong throughoutrdquoGukeshrsquos ability to remain calm and fight back is his strength said Harikrishna ldquoGukesh went down in the first game but won the third to equalise things Then seven games were drawn before he won the 11th to take the lead He lost his concentration in Game 12 as Ding levelled the series but then showed his mental toughness in Game 13 draw and Game 14 This is his biggest strength He takes the setbacks in his stride and recovers He fights till the end and is cool even when he loses a match During this championship Ding tried to close the game many times but Gukesh did not give up and kept pushingrdquoTN CM announces Rs 5cr cash prizeTamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday announced a cash prize of R5 crore for D Gukesh for becoming the youngest World Chess Champion Gukesh achieved the feat on Thursday