D Gukesh and Anish Giri (FIDE Photo and Screengrab) NEW DELHI: Despite its rich history, centuries of tradition and evolution across eras, chess remains a strangely lonely soul. Even today, apart from a few occasional team events, it remains a sport where battles are fought individually, move by move, with the clock constantly ticking.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!And yet, beneath this surface of concentration, players often reveal different shades of their personalities.
Anish Giri Exclusive: FIDE World Championship in Goa, preparation of 2026 candidates, GCL stories and more
Current Dutch number one Anish Giri recently opened up about this duality during an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com.Among the many anecdotes he shared during this interview, one stood out: his observation of the “different ways” of D Gukesh, the reigning world chess champion, and how the 19-year-old can almost seem like a different person depending on the moment.“Gukesh was not in my team (in the last GCL) but I was with him on many different occasions. During the tournaments, after the tournaments, I was also with him at Vidit’s wedding,” the 31-year-old Giri told this website. “And it’s like different people every time. When Gukesh is at Vidit’s wedding, he’s a different person than when he’s playing the second round of Wijk aan Zee. Some people have this very, very strong game mode.”On Friday, Gukesh took some time to interact with his followers on X and answered questions from the teenager’s growing fan base.When asked if this change in behavior comes naturally to him or something he has consciously developed over the years, the Chennai-born grandmaster explained that it was largely innate.“Most of the time it was natural and I was the same outside of chess, but in the last few years I am more engaging and open outside of chess. But it was never due to effort; everything happened by itself,” wrote D Gukesh.After winning the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, Giri has already booked his place among the contenders for 2026. A win would give him the chance to challenge Gukesh for the world title next year.But even before that, they could meet in the upcoming Global Chess League (GCL) season.The third season of the GCL will kick off at the iconic Royal Opera House in Mumbai from December 14 to 23, with Giri suiting up for the Alpine SG Pipers and Gukesh this time donning the colors of Giri’s former team, the PBG Alaskan Knights. Maybe expect a few more glimpses of Gukesh’s “modes”.
