Amid Gukesh's poor run, Candidates 2026 participant Esipenko comes to world champion's defence: 'He is still very...'

Andrey Esipenko has described Gukesh Dommaraju as a "real world champion" and feels that the Indian Grandmaster "has potential" even if he's going through a lean patch at the moment. Gukesh had made history in December, 2024 by defeating Chinese GM Ding Liren to become the youngest world champion in chess history, besides becoming only the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to achieve the feat.

The 19-year-old, however, has gone through a decline across formats, especially in the second half of 2025, struggling to make an impact in major tournaments such as Sinquefield Cup, Fide Grand Swiss as well as the Fide World Cup. He had also finished joint-bottom in the Prague International Chess Festival Masters in his most recent appearance, failing to collect a single win until the final round.

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Gukesh is a real World Champion

While Gukesh's performance over the past one year has left the chess community divided, especially legends such as Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, world No 33 Esipenko has come to Gukesh's defence.

"I think Gukesh is a real World Champion, of course. He qualified, had an incredible Candidates Tournament, and played amazingly at the Olympiad too. Yes, he is having far from the best of times in chess terms right now, but he is still very young and has potential. In my opinion, he really is a very strong and prominent chess player," Esipenko, who is among the eight players in the ongoing Candidates in Cyprus, told Virtus.pro Chess recently. 

Also Read | World champion Gukesh's loss of form decoded by world No 5 Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Esipenko, who had qualified for the prestigious tournament by finishing third at the Fide World Cup in Goa in November, also reflected on Ding's lack of participation in Classical tournaments and feels the former world champion is still "recovering" from his 7.5-6.5 defeat at the hands of Gukesh in Singapore.

"Regarding Ding Liren, yes, in 2025 he has not played a single Classical game. He is clearly not in the best mental state right now. I think he is just recovering from the defeat in the World Championship match in 2024. I want to wish him to successfully get through this difficult period and return as soon as possible. He is a great player," the Russian GM added.