Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
If D Gukesh performs at his peak, he will have the edge over Javokhir Sindarov in the World Championship later this year, opined grandmaster Pravin Thipsay. He also said a neutral venue might help the Indian instead of playing at home.
Sindarov has become world champion Gukesh’s challenger for the world title after winning the FIDE Candidates earlier this year. The way he bossed the tournament, maybe there was a silent message that he was coming for the crown. Thipsay, though, is looking at it in a different way.
“If Gukesh is at his best and Sindarov is at his best, it will be a good match,” the 66-year-old grandmaster, a seven-time national champion and an Arjuna awardee, told RevSportz at the 360 One Global Chess Festival 2026 — Season 9 launch in Mumbai on Tuesday. “But still, it will go in favour of the Indian. Gukesh will win.”
Thipsay feels that Gukesh as a player is still a level above Sindarov. “I think Sindarov has been playing wonderfully since the World Cup (last year), but if you look at Gukesh’s best, I think Sindarov hasn’t reached that class yet,” he observed. “So, it all depends on how Gukesh plays because Gukesh’s performance in the Olympiad 2024, when he won the gold or 2022 Olympiad, when he won first eight games was unparalleled and even Sindarov is not in a
position to perform that well. So, a lot will depend on how Gukesh plays.”
Will it be advantage Gukesh, if the World Championship is played in India? Thipsay remains non-committal. “Well, Gukesh has said that he would be happy to play in India,” he said. “So, I think it also depends on how you look at it. I have seen that (Viswanathan) Anand never played very well in India. So, that was one of the drawbacks sometimes, because too many spectators and too many fans coming. But Gukesh has said he would be happy. FIDE usually takes a stand that they conduct it at a neutral venue. So, they would probably try for someone who bids the highest. But if two people are bidding at the same level, then they would go for a neutral venue.”
Conversation veered towards R Praggnanandhaa and his historic Norway Chess triumph — the first Indian to do so. Thipsay puts things in perspective. “Frankly speaking, winning the Norway Chess is not like winning the Candidates and unfortunately, Praggnanandhaa was at his best in a tournament which did not matter much,” he said. “So, if he had played this way at the Candidates, he would have been the World Championship challenger. So, I think that is a bit unfortunate because the quality he showed in the Norway Chess was super, particularly beating, as you said, (Magnus) Carlsen twice. But not only that, winning four out of four against opponents who were above 2,750 (in Elo rating). It’s a unique performance and somewhere you feel that if you take the performance of the last four rounds, I think he was supreme. At the same time, consistency will be required.”
Thipsay hails R Vaishali’s success at the 2026 Women’s Candidates. At the same time, he believes that women’s chess in India should progress at an even faster pace.
(Full video interview on RevSportz)
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