‘We were in celebration mode since yesterday’: D Gukesh after India win Chess Olympiad gold | Chess News – Times of India

The youngest world championship challenger, D Gukesh, delivered an astounding performance to spearhead India’s historic triumph at the Chess Olympiad on a momentous Sunday.
Out of the 10 games that the 18-year-old played in the Olympiad, Gukesh amassed an impressive nine points, securing eight victories and two draws, propelling his live rating to 2794 Elo.
A performance rating as high as 3056 also gave Gukesh the individual gold medal on Board-1 where he utclassed Abdusattorov Nodirbek of Uzbekistan (2884 Elo) and world No.1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway (2810 Elo).In an interview with chess24, Gukesh emphasized that all the team members were singularly focused on clinching the team gold.

“Since what happened last time where we were so close to win team gold but this time I thought no matter what I am going to do whatever it takes to win this team gold for India. So I did not think of the individual performance, I just wanted the team to win,” he said.
After winning the penultimate round, India were all assured of the gold medal, Gukesh candidly admitted, “Yesterday we were in celebration mode. I must admit after yesterday’s game I was super excited, and didn’t even want to play today. I mean I wanted to play but hoped that there won’t be any game today. But we all were happy and focused ourselves to come here and do the job and then celebrate.”

When asked about the Olympiad being his final preparation tournament before the world championship, Gukesh responded, “Not sure yet. But it was a good experience before the world championship. The Olympiad was very important for me. I just wanted to give it my all and win this tournament.”
Elaborating on his team for the world championship, where he will face China’s formidable Ding Liren, Gukesh revealed, “I have largely finalized my team for the world championship. We are enjoying each other’s company and striving to forge a strong bond.”