Anand on Gukesh’s World Championship defence: ‘World just not bending like it used to’

Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world champion, discussed the challenges D Gukesh faces defending his world title against Javokhir Sindarov in Geneva. Anand revealed that the situation is harder for Gukesh this time as he is the one in deep water, while Sindarov appears stronger in each tournament. Anand empathized with Gukesh's struggle, stating that it happens to everybody and that the world refuses to work as expected.

He shared his own experiences of dealing with similar situations, emphasizing that it's not a one-fix solution but rather a collection of smaller wins spread across various formats. Anand highlighted the importance of reassurance, stating that classical chess going badly doesn't mean everything is going badly. He reiterated that there's no formula for handling such situations and that one must simply accept the result when it happens, whether it turns around or not.

Anand suggested that Gukesh's participation in Samarkand could provide the necessary jolt to turn things around, as he has had success in such events before.