'He had a bad classical event': Viswanathan Anand cites Gukesh's example as he urges chess players to master all formats

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand has advised young players to keep an open mind and play all types of chess formats. Speaking at the Chennai Grand Masters, Anand said that in modern chess, it is important to be mentally ready for all formats, including classical, rapid, blitz, and even Chess960.

Anand gave the example of the current world champion D Gukesh, who did not have a good result in a recent classical event in Romania, even though it is considered his best format. Gukesh is known for struggling in other formats of the game, especially the fast-paced ones like rapid and blitz.

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“The simplest way to say it is that they shouldn’t rule out any format mentally. In a sense, you won’t probably have good results in all the formats, in all the years but I don’t think you’re assured of one format either. I mean Gukesh has had a bad Classical (event) in Romania, for instance. I think when one misfires, you should be able to compete in the other. So, you should try to be competitive in all. Maybe you won’t succeed, but it’s worth it," Anand told reporters.

Gukesh has often been criticised for being weaker in blitz and rapid chess, even by former world champion Magnus Carlsen. However, the 19-year-old proved those critics wrong recently by winning the rapid section at the SuperUnited Croatia Rapid and Blitz event in Zagreb, where he even beat Carlsen in one of the games.

Gukesh impresses in Grand Chess Tour

Gukesh bounced back strongly after losing his first game on Day 1 of the Grand Chess Tour at Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2025. He won his next two rapid games to finish the day with two wins out of three matches. After the games, Gukesh said his first match was not good, but he was happy with how he recovered and finished the day.

“I guess it was overall good. The first game was bad. Once I allowed the knight f3 in the opening…I should have just played g4. I got careless in that one moment and it was just hard to play that. I was happy with how I came back after that….the third (game) was also pretty good. Feeling good about the last three games. It’s just the start of the tournament, so wonderful,” Gukesh said.