Gukesh’s long-time coach Grzegorz Gajewski explains what’s going on with world champion this year – ‘It’s kind of a transitional period’

What is going on with D Gukesh? It’s a question that has vexed the world of chess over the past 11 months. Since becoming the world champion in Singapore in December last year, the teenager from Chennai has suffered some bruising defeats in 2025. The closest he came to winning an individual title was at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, which was Gukesh’s first event after winning the world championship at the age of 18. Just a fortnight ago, the 19-year-old also had shown signs of resurgence at the European Club Cup (ECC) in Rhodes, Greece, where, playing for Romanian club SuperChess, the Indian had claimed an individual gold for Board 1 while dragging the team to the title. But an ouster in the third round at the hands of Frederik Svane at the FIDE World Cup on Saturday wi