For decades, from the time Mikhail Botvinnik won the World Chess Championship on behalf of the old Soviet Union in 1948, it was the fiefdom of that nation or Russia, once Perestroika paved the way for 15 separate republics. Except for Bobby Fischer’s reign (1972-75), a Russian or Soviet citizen ruled the world of 64 squares until India’s Viswanathan Anand won the crown in 2007.
Now, India has another champion, D Gukesh, at the vanguard of a generation that Anand inspired. And it doesn’t seem to have gone down well in Russia. Of the many reactions to Gukesh’s win over China’s Ding Liren, none was more bizarre than that of Andrey Filatov, president of the Chess Federation of Russia.
“The result of the last game caused bewilderment among professionals and chess fans,” he was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency. “The actions of the Chinese chess player in the decisive segment are extremely suspicious and require a separate investigation by FIDE. Losing the position in which Ding Liren was in is difficult even for a first-class player. The defeat of the Chinese chess player in today's game raises a lot of questions and looks like a deliberate one.”
The chess world at large was not amused by such an accusation, especially after a world title contest that went right to the wire. “Sports is about mistakes, without mistakes, there would be no goals in football,” said Arkady Dvorkovich, International Chess Federation (FIDE) president, during the closing ceremony. “Every sportsman makes mistakes but that's what we are excited about, whether the opponent can find the way to use a mistake.”
Vladimir Kramnik, the last Russian world champion, was scathing in his appraisal of the contest on the whole. “No comment,” he wrote on X after the 14th and final game. “Sad. End of chess as we know it.”
Gukesh, who showed the good grace to congratulate Ding after the match, wasn’t unduly bothered by such comments, or even Magnus Carlsen’s assessment that the playing standard was more in keeping with the second or third round of a major tournament. “I get that maybe in some of the games, the quality was not high but I think the world championship matches are decided not purely by chess but by who has the better character and who has the better willpower,” he said. “And I think those qualities, I did show quite well."
His perspective found support from the legend he replaced as the youngest-ever world champion. “Gukesh was well-prepared and the player who played the best won the match,” was Garry Kasparov’s assessment. “His victory caps a phenomenal year for India. Combined with Olympiad dominance, chess has returned to its cradle and the era of ‘Vishy’s children’ is truly upon us!”
He didn’t stop there either. “The level of play was quite high, at least equal to the previous match,” wrote Kasparov, who was 22 when he upset Anatoly Karpov in 1985. “Ding showed great resistance. As for the blunders, which world championship, or world champion, was without them? I had my share, and recall the double blunder in Carlsen-Anand 2014, g6. Matches take a toll.”
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