Gukesh should not be called number 1: Alexei Shirov questions the use of the title “World Champion”

Alexei Shirov believes chess should rethink the way it uses the term “world champion”, suggesting the sport could adopt a system similar to tennis.The Spanish grandmaster made the comments while discussing India’s D Gukesh and the status attached to the classic world title.“Nothing against Gukesh, maybe we shouldn’t use words like world champion. Chess should be like tennis,” Shirov said.Gukesh became the youngest undisputed world champion after defeating Ding Liren in the 2024 World Championship match in Singapore. He is currently the reigning FIDE World Champion.Shirov’s comments come amid an ongoing debate in chess over what the world title represents in a sport where players compete in different formats and events throughout the year.Unlike tennis, where Grand Slam champions are identified by their individual tournament victories and there is no player officially recognized as world champion, classical chess has a designated world champion determined based on the FIDE championship cycle.Shirov, himself a former World Cup contender, has joined the title race before. He defeated Vladimir Kramnik in a qualifying match in 1998 to earn the right to challenge Garry Kasparov, but the proposed world championship match between Kasparov and Shirov never took place.His remarks come during the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand where Gukesh is representing reigning champions India.In the sixth round, India suffered a 1.5–2.5 defeat to hosts Uzbekistan in the first major clash between the top rivals. Nihal Sarin lost to Nodirbek Yakubboev while Gukesh drew with Shamsiddin Vokhidov. R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi also drew their matches against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov respectively.The defeat took India to 10 match points while Uzbekistan moved to 12 to take the sole lead.