Want to second a World champion? ‘Put aside your personal preferences and get into the player’s shoes,’ says P. Harikrishna Premium

P. Harikrishna, a key figure in chess, reflects on his role as a second to young champions.

There is a common factor between the men’s and women’s reigning World chess champions: P. Harikrishna worked as a second to both D. Gukesh and Ju Wenjun. Ju retained the women’s title back in 2023, while Gukesh became the youngest World champion in history, at 18, dethroning Ding Liren last month in Singapore. 

Harikrishna, who played a significant role in the Chennai youngster’s triumph, is looking forward to their meeting in the Dutch village of Wijk aan Zee, where they will come face to face across a chessboard, at the Tata Steel tournament, one of the most prestigious events in the chess calendar. It kicks off on January 17.

One of the most prodigious chess talents to have come out of India, Harikrishna was once the World No. 10. He was also a part of India’s gold-medal-winning Olympiad team. The 38-year-old was preparing for Wijk aan Zee at his Prague home when The Hindu caught up with him over the phone for an interview. Excerpts:

At Wijk aan Zee, Gukesh will be playing two of his seconds — you and Vincent Keymer.

Yes, we could not meet Gukesh after he won the World Championship. So it will be nice to meet him, looking forward to it very much.

There is such a strong field at Wijk aan Zee…

The field is very strong actually, with many strong young players and experienced ones as well. Apart from Gukesh, there are players like Fabiano Caruana, Arjun Erigaisi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, R. Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Wei Yi… I have been preparing for the tournament, I want to give my best. The last time I played was in 2021. And I had played a couple of times earlier as well.