‘Don’t care who’s in front… business as usual’
The ongoing Tata Steel chess tournament in the Dutch town of Wijk aan Zee will see a reunion of sorts for Gukesh and two of his seconds, who helped him become the youngest world champion in history by defeating Ding Liren in Singapore last month. The 14-player masters field at the prestigious Tata Steel tournament — called the Wimbledon of Chess — will see Gukesh face players like Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi. But the event also sees Gukesh take on two of his seconds for the World Chess Championship last month — Gukesh will face Vincent Keymer in Round 5 (Wednesday) and Pentala Harikrishna in Round 7 (Saturday). Asked if the clashes against his seconds would be ‘special games’, the teenager said: “Once I get to the board, in general I don’t really care about the opponent, whether it’s a good friend or anyone. It will be business as usual. We have developed a close bond over the year. I’m glad they’re playing in this tournament.” The 18-year-old said that he is currently working with …
