Days after Magnus Carlsen stated that chess world champion D Gukesh is not ‘good’ in Rapid and Blitz formats, the Indian Grandmaster admitted that he needs to improve his game in these faster formats. Gukesh also shared his thoughts on the growth of Indian chess.
read more
Chess world champion D Gukesh has admitted he needs to improve in the Rapid, Blitz and Freestyle formats after world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen highlighted his weaknesses in a recent podcast. Gukesh became the youngest-ever world champion at 18 when he defeated Ding Liren in a
14-game Classical World Chess Championship in December 2024.
Gukesh is currently ranked
world No.3 in FIDE Classical rating but doesn’t enjoy the same status in Rapid and Blitz Ratings. He has an Elo rating of 2787 in Classical chess, but his ratings in Rapid and Blitz are well below 2700.
And it’s not just the Rapid and Blitz formats which has troubled Gukesh. Recently, the world champion
finished eighth in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 stage 1 after failing to win a single game.
Recently, while appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Carlsen had said that Gukesh was
“not good at rapid chess, not good at blitz, he’s not good at other forms. But he has made all his studies about classical chess”.
Gukesh has now acknowledged that he is a “long way” from becoming the best in the world despite winning the World Chess Championship and needs to improve his performances in the faster version of the games.
“I’m honoured to win the world championship title but there is a long way to go before comparing with Magnus,” Gukesh said at the Trailblazers 3.0 sports conclave.
“It’s a positive thing that I have won this but there is also someone like Magnus to look up to and set myself as a benchmark. Other than that, I have to improve in other formats—rapid, blitz, now freestyle has come up. When you have nothing to work on, you get bored. I have lots to look forward to. Also, in classical, I’m World No 3… I think. So still a long way to go.”
‘Happy to be part of this amazing Indian group’
Gukesh also reflected on the growth of Indian chess, which has been blessed by some of the world’s top players, including Arjun Ergaisi and R Praggnanandhaa. Recently, Aravindh Chithambaram
won the prestigious Prague Masters 2025.
The Grandmaster from Chennai said that no country can currently compete with India when it comes to upcoming talent.
“I don’t think there is any other country that has so many players at the top but also just coming up. US has a lot of amazing players but they are already well-established,” Gukesh said.
“It’s really amazing to see how we are pushing each other, growing together. This very healthy rivalry we have. Already we are seeing a lot of Indians coming out on top in important tournaments like Olympiad, World Championship, Tata Steel Chess etc. It’s really exciting for Indian chess and I’m really happy to be part of this amazing group.”