'It was not his fault...': Chess legend responds to Garry Kasparov's remarks on Gukesh's title

Indian sensation D Gukesh has found strong support after recent remarks from legendary player Garry Kasparov sparked debate in the chess world. Speaking at the Sinquefield Cup 2025 broadcast, Kasparov downplayed Gukesh's World Chess Championship win, saying that the Indian prodigy is not the "strongest player in the world."

Kasparov had said that the “era of classical world champions” ended when five-time champion Magnus Carlsen gave up his crown in 2022 and decided not to defend it next year. While he admitted that Gukesh’s win last year was “fair and square,” Kasparov claimed that the 19-year-old still needs to prove he is the best player in the world.

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The 2023 World Championship match was then played between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren, which Ding won to become the 17th world champion. Gukesh then took the crown in December 2024. The Russian legend also criticised Gukesh’s performance in his first-round game against Praggnanandhaa at the Sinquefield Cup 2025, calling it “unimpressive.”

American chess legend backs Gukesh

In reply, American-Hungarian chess legend Susan Polgar defended Gukesh on social media. She reminded everyone that Gukesh became champion through hard work, winning the Candidates Tournament against some of the biggest names in chess like Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Alireza Firouzja.

"Gukesh is a DESERVING World Classical Champion, period! He went through the FIDE Candidates as an 18 year old, the youngest in the tournament, and came out ahead of big stars Caruana, Nakamura, Nepo, Firouzja, and Pragg, etc. It was not his fault that Magnus Carlsen walked away from his title. If we, as a chess community, delegitimize his title because he did not beat Carlsen, then we need to do the same for World Champions after Bobby Fischer since he also walked away from his title! We can not have different standards for players we like or dislike," she wrote.

Gukesh, who became the youngest-ever world chess champion at 18, had surpassed Kasparov for the record. He is currently fighting hard to qualify for the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) finals.