Gukesh struggles in Freestyle Chess Grand Slam opener; coach defends young world champion

India’s teenage chess sensation, Gukesh Dommaraju, endured a tough outing in the opening event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in Weissenhaus, Germany. The 18-year-old, who made history in December by becoming the youngest world champion, finished at the bottom of the 10-player tournament after failing to register a single win over eight days of competition.

Gukesh drew 11 games and lost six, including a round-robin stage defeat to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. His campaign ended on a disappointing note with a 30-move loss against Alireza Firouzja on Friday (February 14). This underwhelming performance comes just weeks after he nearly clinched the prestigious Tata Steel Chess tournament.

Following the tournament, Gukesh’s coach, Grzegorz Gajewski, came to his defense, addressing concerns about his struggles in the Chess960 format. Recently, American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura pointed out that Gukesh’s intuition, particularly under time pressure, was a major weakness. However, Gajewski refuted this criticism, emphasizing that Gukesh’s difficulties were specific to Chess960 rather than classical chess.

“In 960, calculation can be very misleading because you have to be careful about which moves you are calculating,” Gajewski explained (via First Post).

“So, yes, he needs to improve his intuition, but by intuition, I mean Chess960 intuition. Many moves that intuitively seem fine in classical chess are just pure mistakes in 960.”

He further elaborated on the unique challenges of Chess960, stating:

“It’s the biggest challenge for 960. There’s no historical foundation here. Traditional chess has been developing for centuries, but in this format, we need to fast-track our learning with engines, and that’s not simple.”

Despite this setback, Gukesh has multiple opportunities to turn things around. As the reigning world champion, he automatically qualifies for all events in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. His next chance to redeem himself will come in April on the Paris leg of the tour, where he will not be the only Indian in action. World No. 5 Arjun Erigaisi has also been confirmed for the tournament as well.

Beyond freestyle chess, Gukesh has a packed calendar ahead. He is set to compete in the prestigious Norway Chess tournament, where he will once again face five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. Later this year, he will also participate in the Chess World Cup, which will be hosted in India.

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What is Chess960? The unconventional format that challenged Gukesh

Chess960, also known as Fischer Random Chess, is a variant of traditional chess where the starting position of the pieces is randomized. Created by former world champion Bobby Fischer, the format aims to reduce the influence of opening preparation and place greater emphasis on creativity and adaptability.

In Chess960, while the pawns remain in their usual positions, the back-rank pieces are shuffled according to specific rules—both bishops must be placed on opposite-colored squares, and the king must be positioned between the rooks to allow castling. With 960 possible starting positions, players cannot rely on memorized openings and must think on their feet from the very first move.

This unique challenge posed difficulties for Gukesh in Weissenhaus as he struggled to adjust to unfamiliar setups.