Carlsen's coach weighs in on Gukesh's World Championship reign criticism: 'He is not like Vishy or Magnus'

Reigning world champion D Gukesh is not as solid as the legendary Viswanathan Anand or the long-time World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, believes Peter Heine Nielsen, coach of the Norwegian superstar said. However, Nielsen added that Gukesh is not lucky to win the World Championship and it is in fact a ridiculous feat for the youngster from India.

Nielsen also gave his opinion on the upcoming World Championship match where Gukesh will have to defend his title against an in-form Javokhir Sindarov later this year. Gukesh has not been at his best in recent times and has also faced criticism for not being the best player despite being the world champion.

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'Gukesh is very dangerous'

“Gukesh can lose to everybody, but he can also win against everybody. He has this very peculiar style, and he’s very strong, very dangerous and not afraid at all. It gives him a high chance to succeed," Nielsen told Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the ongoing Norway Chess.

However, Nielsen noted that his risk-taking also comes with consequences and he loses in very ugly ways a lot of times.

"His problem is that sometimes when he loses, he loses in a very ugly fashion. If you want to play all openings like Gukesh does and put as much pressure all the time on your opponent – If that worked every time, you would have a 3000 rating. When people say things like Gukesh is lucky and such, I would say he’s taking all these risks because he thinks it’s a good strategy. When it goes wrong, he lives with the consequences," he said.

Nielsen who coached Anand, India's only world champion before Gukesh, said that the youngster does not have the solidity of the former of world champion.

"It’s very interesting in the sense that he doesn’t have the solidity that, for instance, Vishy had. Maybe, of course, Magnus too. If people insist that because he’s the world champion, he should be the best player in the world, I don’t think there is anything insulting in that. If anything, it makes your performance look better. Gukesh’s talent is immense, but it’s not fully developed yet, but to actually win a World Championship at his age is ridiculously good.”

Talking about the world championship match, Nielsen refused to name a winner. “It’s very hard to predict what will happen in his match against Sindarov. My margin goes to each player, winning by three points. It feels like anything could happen," he said.