Mentor Anand raises Gukesh’s grade from ‘D minus’ to ‘B’ after Norway Chess wins over Carlsen & Arjun

Gukesh D, who etched his name in history as the youngest world chess champion by defeating Ding Liren last December, has navigated an eventful and often unpredictable path since his triumph.

His first outing as world champion came at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, where he came tantalizingly close to clinching the title before falling to Praggnanandhaa in a tense tie-break.

The months that followed proved challenging. In the Freestyle Chess circuit, Gukesh struggled to find his footing. At the Weissenhaus leg of the Grand Slam Tour, he finished without a single victory—recording 11 draws and six defeats.


The Paris leg and the Superbet Chess Classic Romania brought only modest improvements, yielding just one win alongside multiple draws and losses.

Redemption in Norway

Despite a string of underwhelming performances, Gukesh bounced back in dramatic fashion at Norway Chess. There, he scored his first classical win over world number one Magnus Carlsen, drawing global attention—not least because of Carlsen's rare display of frustration: a visible fist slam.

Gukesh also registered a breakthrough classical victory over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi, another rising star.

He remained competitive throughout the event, staying close to Carlsen on the leaderboard and ultimately finishing in third place.

Anand's report card

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who serves as Gukesh’s mentor, has offered both praise and critique in his assessments. Speaking to Chess.com after Norway Chess, Anand raised his earlier rating of Gukesh’s season.

“I think I will go up to B,” Anand said. “He deserved a D, but he got a lot of answers correct somehow in Norway. So that’s a B. Given that he survived and based on his points, I would give him a B.”

Previously, Anand had been more critical: “I think I would say only ‘D minus’, but Wijk aan Zee is pulling him to ‘D plus’ maybe or ‘C minus’.”

Reflecting more broadly on Gukesh’s year, Anand pointed to the post-title adjustment period.


“After a world championship, you always fear a kind of emptiness. But his first event went very well. The rest of the year has been more discreet. He’s still strong—he just needs to reconnect and build consistency.”

Anand later offered a deeper analysis of Gukesh’s choices at the board during Norway Chess.


“He made a lot of questionable decisions, not in time trouble, but early in games. Some criticism is fair,” he noted. “Still, how many players in the world can beat Arjun and Magnus from the positions he did? If Magnus or Hikaru escaped those positions, we’d call it brilliance. The same standard should apply here.”

He concluded with a metaphor that summed up both the praise and the caution:

“Having defensive skill is good—but you don’t want to depend on it. Like armies, you need them, but you hope not to use them all the time. That said, Gukesh was incredibly resourceful.”