Gukesh has so much to learn… not yet complete as player, says trainer Grzegorz Gajewski
Grzegorz Gajewski, the man who was the sherpa guiding Gukesh's ascent to the coveted world champion's throne late last year, believes that despite the Chennai teenager becoming the youngest world champion in history, there's still lots of scope to learn for the teenager from Chennai.
Gukesh is currently playing at the Norway Chess tournament, where he lost to China's Wei Yi in the Armageddon on Saturday after their classical contest ended in a draw. This year's Norway Chess tournament has an incredibly strong field, with the world's top 5 players competing, with China's Wei Yi being the lowest rated player at No 8.
Asked in an interview by the official YouTube channel of Norway Chess what the biggest challenge working with someone as young as Gukesh was, the Polish trainer said: 'Everything is a challenge at this age because nothing is formed really. So he's not yet complete as a chess player, he's not yet complete as a person. Everywhere there are some smaller or bigger challenges waiting for you.'
Gajewski started travelling full time with Gukesh since Norway Chess 2023, an association that led to Gukesh winning the Candidates at the first time of asking after prevailing over an elite eight-player field and then defeating Ding Liren to become the 18th world champion in the sport's history. He was asked what is the next challenge for him as a trainer. Gajewski pointed out that even though Gukesh was a world champion, there was plenty of scope for growth.
'I think the biggest trick here is to somehow find the balance between the urge of immediate results and the long-term goal which is basically to improve as a player. I think this is the key here and of course he's a world champion already but we should not forget he's only 19. There is so much he has to learn yet and for me this is a priority. If he wins some championship matches as part of the process that's great, but the key for him is to improve,' he said.
Gajewski was first introduced to Gukesh at Viswanathan Anand's WACA chess academy, which was started during the pandemic. Gajewski had previously worked with Anand as a second too.
Asked how different it was working with Gukesh compared to working with Anand, Gajewski said: 'Very much different. When I started working with Vishy, he was already a man who achieved it all. A five-time world champion, a famous player and a legend. So it's kind of a different situation because what can I really teach him, right? So I was basically taking care of his repertoire and trying to set new goals so he could stay ambitious which obviously was tricky for the man who achieved it all already. With Gukesh it's pretty much different because he's so young, he has so much to learn and so much to achieve. So they were at completely different points in their careers.'
Gajewski also heaped praise on Gukesh.
'What was special for him was his ability to learn and to draw conclusions from his own errors. He had many ups and downs but whenever he felt he was able to take the best lesson from this fall and use it to his advantage in the future.'
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