Gukesh intends to play more Classical chess in second half of 2025

The reigning World chess champion D. Gukesh has been playing quite well in both classical and rapid tournaments this year. He finished second and third in two classical tournaments, Tata Steel (Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands) and Norway Chess (Stavanger) respectively, and won the Rapid section of the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz in Zagreb, Croatia.

The 19-year-old, however, said he intends to play more Classical tournaments in the second half of the year. 

“My last Classical tournament was in Norway Chess (May 26 to June 6). It was a decent tournament. [But] I have not played too many Classical events. I played in Tata Steel in January. I finished tied first. It was good. In the next part of the year, I will be playing more Classical. I am looking forward to that,” said Gukesh during a felicitation function in Chennai.

Although he’s satisfied with his performance in Classical and Rapid sections, Gukesh admitted that he needs to improve in the Blitz format.

“My recent performance in Zagreb was good [first] in Rapid. I still need to correct some mistakes in Blitz. I think I am improving my performance, he said.

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According to Gukesh, the upcoming World Cup — to be held in either Ahmedabad or Goa in October this year — will be huge for Indian chess.

“In chess, there are not many knockouts. World Cup is the biggest knockout [since 2021] tournament. It is going to be held in India after the Chennai Olympiad. It is going to be a big event in India and an important tournament for Indian chess,” he said.

Gukesh said it’s inspiring to witness Divya Deshmukh triumph in the women’s World Cup in Batumi (Georgia) recently.

“We basically grew up together, like playing the same tournaments right from when eight or nine years old, I think. We played the same tournaments. It’s actually really inspiring the way she won the World Cup because it’s not a very easy tournament to win as you have to play for nearly a month. I’ve played the World Cup two times, so I know how difficult it is,” he said.