Young Gukesh did not use chess engines; family, coach lent the fuel

CHENNAI: Mere hours after D Gukesh pounced on a horrific lapse by Ding Liren in Game 14 of the World Chess Championship in Singapore on Thursday, and then like any boy true to his age, burst into tears from all the pent-up emotion, a video from 2018 started doing the rounds on social media.
Soon gone viral, it was reminiscent of those similar grainy videos embedded in our consciousness - the 1989 news clip of a fresh-faced Sachin Tendulkar, before his selection to the Indian senior team; a 10-year-old Diego Maradona in 1971, effortlessly juggling the football and telling the interviewer that his ambition was to win the World Cup, or "Copa del Mundo," as he would call it in Spanish.
Gukesh was just 11 years and 6 months, when he was asked of his ambition. "I believe I will be a world champion one day," was the reply.
It was 2018. Magnus Carlsen was the undisputed champion of the world; a good handful of Indian players were far ahead of the little boy in the ratings, and you felt that Gukesh was probably taking a little too much on himself a little too early. But we all know how that turned out. Like Sachin, then barely 16, had told the late Tom Alter, "I think this is just the start."
But then, isn't that what champions are made of? The Chennai boy knew he was ready to dig in to reach the top. Coming from a city that has produced Viswanathan Anand and boasts of a chess academy in every nook and cranny, the teenager would never be short of support. His alma mater, Velammal Vidyalaya, produces Grandmasters for fun, and he had the much sought-after Vishnu Prasanna as coach from a young age who guided him through his baby steps as a chess boy.
But before all that come Gukesh's parents, absolute pillars of strength when they recognized their boy possessed a mind of steel and set about nurturing his dream. Father Rajinikanth, an ENT surgeon, and mother, Padma, a microbiologist, made significant sacrifices to make it work. Rajinikanth gave up on his career to travel alongside as his son tried to find a footing on the cut-throat world circuit. "The biggest sacrifices were done by my parents" Gukesh has often said. He repeated the same after becoming world champion on Thursday. "We were not a very well-off family. There were financial struggles which I didn't realize…"
"At some point in 2017-18," remembers Gukesh, "We were running so low on money, I could only play tournaments and train because of my parents' friends. They came forward and sponsored to help me play. My parents had to endure so much and all the lifestyle changes that they made just so that I could get a chance to play."
The Chennai boy was determined to repose the faith his parents showed in him. Vishnu Prasanna explained his ward's hunger during his early days. "He used to play a lot - about 230 games in a year. He used to train whenever he was not playing, even when he was travelling," Vishnu, himself a Grandmaster, told TOI.
Once Gukesh grew a little older, he cut down on playing and replaced it with "10 to 12 hours of practice" every day. "At each level, we tried to change his strategy," Vishnu remembers, "We did not use chess engines etc. He used to train for 10 to 12 hours a day, including the time on physical fitness."
What makes Gukesh stand out is his ability to keep every distraction at length even as stardom tiptoes close. "He has managed it somehow, he did not go for vacations and there were not a lot of moments when he wasn't training," Vishnu said, "Everybody wants Gukesh's outcome, but they do not want his lifestyle or habits. I keep telling that to parents who bring their kids to me and hope to turn them into Gukesh one day."
You could say then that success has been a given in the Gukesh story over the past few years - a two-time individual Olympiad gold medallist, team gold medallist, Candidates winner before becoming India No. 1 by dethroning his mentor and hero, the legendary Anand.
But there were difficult moments as well. It was such a different story this time a year ago. Forget becoming world champion, Gukesh wasn't sure whether he would make the Candidates even. It was at this point, the strength of his character and hunger to succeed kept him going. "After the World Cup, things went horribly wrong for me," Gukesh had said, "It was probably where I was at my lowest, clearly not handling the Candidates pressure well. We had about 20 days between the Grand Swiss and London Classic, and I talked with Vishnu Prasanna and second (Grzegorz Gajewski) a lot. I felt much better and had more clarity after those conversations," Gukesh remembered, adding that Gajewski kept reminding his that "he is the best in the world".
Gajewski's words worked like magic. On Thursday, Gukesh proved that belief and dedication, can conquer mountains.