Viswanathan Anand Delivers Strong Verdict On D Gukesh’s Norway Chess Performance, Gives Him Harsh Reality Check News24 –
Ever since Indian Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh won the World Championship last December, his form has been a mixed bag. Though he produced some promising results in classical chess, his performances in other formats such as Freestyle Chess and Blitz have still not lived up to the expectation.
Anand’s Verdict On Gukesh’s Norway Chess Performance
In the aftermath of Gukesh’s recent appearance at the 2025 Norway Chess tournament, five-time World Champion legend Viswanathan Anand provided comments about the performance of the young sensation. In an interview with Chess.com, Anand provided a balanced assessment of Gukesh’s performance at the tournament.
“I think I will go up to B. He deserved a D, but he got a lot of answers correct somehow (at Norway Chess). So that’s a B. Given that he survived and based on his points, I would give him a B,” Anand was quoted as saying.
Post his world championship triumph last year, Gukesh experienced a setback. He just missed out on emerging victorious in the Tata Steel Chess tournament, losing in a tiebreak to fellow Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. This was preceded by disappointing performances at two consecutive Freestyle Chess tournaments. His performance at the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess was especially challenging, with no victories, 11 draws, and six losses. In the same way, his performances at the Paris Freestyle and Superbet Chess Classic Romania tournaments did not impress.
Norway Chess Represents a Milestone
But fortunes improved for Gukesh with Norway Chess. Particularly, he registered his maiden classical chess win against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen a triumph that attracted lots of attention considering the visibly frustrated reaction of Carlsen. While Gukesh again lost the rematch to Carlsen in the course of the tournament later on, he also set a record by beating fellow Indian sensation Arjun Erigaisi in classical form for the first time in 2025.
Gukesh was in the title contention until the final round and finished third, behind Magnus Carlsen and American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.
Recent Successes and Mishaps in Rapid and Blitz Formats
Recently, the grandmaster from Tamil Nadu took part in the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz tournament in Croatia. He won the rapid segment with the top prize but came third in the blitz segment, losing the title that was ultimately gained by Carlsen, who mounted a stunning late charge to win the championship.