I will be really, really surprised if Gukesh doesn’t win the World title: Anish Giri Premium

Anish Giri, once close to 2800 Elo points, remains a top chess player despite a slight rating drop.

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.