Anish Giri came close to touching the most magical mark in chess: 2800 Elo points. Only 14 players in the game’s history have been there. His rating had gone up to 2798 on three FIDE lists during the 2015-16 period. He is thus the 15th strongest chess player of all time.
Giri may have slipped a bit from those highs — he is currently on 2728 — but, as he has shown over the last four editions of the Tata Steel tournament at Wijk aan Zee (known as the Wimbledon of chess), he remains one of the world’s top players. Earlier this month in London, he led PBG Alaskan Knights from the front at the Global Chess League. His team won the star-studded event’s league phase convincingly, but lost the final to defending champion Triveni Continental Kings. Excerpts from an interview Giri gave The Hindu at London’s historic Friends House:
The World chess championship match is around the corner. How do you see the clash between Ding Liren and D. Gukesh shaping up?
I will be really, really surprised if Gukesh doesn’t win. Everything points to his victory at the moment. He has been playing tremendously for a long time.
Have you noticed any changes from the Gukesh that you used to know?
If we compare Gukesh from the previous Olympiad [in Chennai], I think he has added a solid layer to his play. He was always good at generating chances, at going for uncompromising chess, but he didn’t have a solid backup. For example, when I played him in the Sinquefield Cup, he surprised me with very deep, very solid preparation. He didn’t give me a chance to get the game going. Earlier, you would always be able to get a fight with him.
Gukesh won the Candidates tournament (the qualifier for the World title match), which you narrowly failed to qualify for despite leading the FIDE circuit for a period. There was criticism against some of the tournaments announced towards the very end.
I think I had a very good run that season. I performed very well at various tournaments. Yeah, it wasn’t so sudden [those tournaments]. I knew it could happen, of course. I knew there was this possibility but I don’t think it was the tournament that was created, but it was more the fact that Gukesh managed to play so well that really mattered. Because I think before the tournament I was not too worried. I think he needed to win the tournament outright. And it was not so easy. There were strong players there. So I think it is not for me to blame it on them organising tournaments. I think it is just that Gukesh was playing well. But it was a little bit more artificial with Alireza [Firouzja]. He kept trying and trying and trying and trying but yeah... I mean it’s [up to] FIDE to change the rules.
So do you think FIDE could have done something about it?
No, I think it is a pattern. It is a pattern that they are changing a lot of rules, and it is difficult to think everything through. And the players are adapting. And again with the new cycle also there are some issues already with the circuit.
Up a level: Giri says D. Gukesh ‘has added a solid layer to his play’ and become even more formidable as a result. | Photo credit: Getty Images
Should there be some changes for future cycles?
Yeah, for sure. I mean I think they have to improve that because it is very difficult to model. You probably have to model some software to run through these things.
When people say that it is easier to beat Carlsen than to beat Giri, how do you feel?
I think people have a very wrong impression about my style. I have an image of being very solid but I think my tournaments have been very unstable for many years already. This notion that I am very solid is somewhat dated. I think I need to find my way but I am definitely not solid anymore.
Your thoughts on the way the Indian men dominated the Chess Olympiad at Budapest?
It was clear the team was probably the favourite but the way they dominated was even more than I expected. I think everything went their way as well. And not only were they playing amazingly, but even all the things that could go wrong didn’t go wrong, or [those that] could go right did go right. It was incredible. For instance, Fabiano Caruana could have held Gukesh, but he blundered. Uzbekistan also had their chances somewhere but they were not as good as they were at the last Olympiad.
How did you find the experience of playing at the Global Chess League?
One thing also that makes this tournament special is the very dosed chess. There is very little that you play, actually. You normally don’t play only 40 minutes a day. In chess tournaments, if you have rapid control or blitz, you play many games in a day. We play quite little. But as long as the results are good, it is great. I am okay with that, of course. But it creates an interesting situation because you also can’t prepare too much because of the toss. You don’t know the colour [of your pieces]. So you have to manage your day. Everything in the tournament makes things as random as possible, which, I guess, is great for excitement.
Expect the unexpected: The much-talked-about Global Chess League ‘makes things as random as possible’, says Giri, ‘which is great for excitement’. | Photo credit: Global Chess League
Your thoughts on Nihal Sarin, who did rather well for your team?
Nihal is a tremendous talent. In some areas of the game, he is more gifted than all the other kids. He is extremely tactical. And he has been excelling at rapid and blitz for years, and he has delivered here. But classical chess is different. And there are certain areas of the game where he has to catch up very much. I think in his case, it is the time management and preparation, which are crucial in classical chess. Time management is very important. In rapid and blitz, you have little time already, and your opponent has little time. But in classical chess, if you mismanage your time, you are the only one with little time. In certain time controls, Nihal is in the top five of the world, but in classical, he needs to adjust.
I suppose you have told him what you have just told me?
I have, but I think he needs to reach those conclusions himself. Chess is such an individualistic game. And you want to take all the decisions on your own. You listen to advice, but you don’t necessarily follow it. And I think that he needs to do it himself. It has to come from within.
Published - October 26, 2024 12:20 am IST
