Gukesh Dommaraju’s coach, Grzegorz Gajewski, shared his opinion on criticism toward Gukesh. Gajewski says Gukesh achieved what other Champions could not, and reflects on Ian Nepomniachtchi’s efforts to win the World Championship.

Grzegorz Gajewski

Grzegorz Gajewski

Gukesh Dommaraju's coach

“Garry Kasparov, Magnus Carlsen, Anatoly Karpov and others, they are all great players. They have egos and Gukesh is a young kid who has, in a way, outperformed all of them.

I don’t make any claims that he’s better than any of them but he did achieve something they never achieved. I get that Garry must be angry that his record was broken. I think the game is just changing.

I also feel for Nepo. He was so close to becoming the World Champion and he’s been working so hard for so many years to get there. And then these kids just come and take it.

The first time Gukesh gets a chance to play the Candidates, he won the tournament right away. Then he became the world champion right away, beating Ding, who Nepo was not able to overcome, even though Ding was in much worse form back then. Then Sindarov comes and he crushes the Candidates like it’s a piece of cake.

So, I get where they’re coming from. But you just have to make peace with reality.”

Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest World Champion in history at the age of 18. He defeated 17th Champion Ding Liren with a score of 7.5-6.5 in the 2024 World Championship Match.

Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi has made two major attempts at the World Championship, winning the Candidates Tournament in 2020-2021 and in 2022. He lost both Title matches, to Magnus Carlsen in 2021 and to Ding Liren in 2023.

Credit: Michal Walusza / Norway Chess