“We are going to give our best and see what happens”

This afternoon’s fantastic chess experience in Singapore began with the first official press conference with the World Champion Ding Liren and the challenger Gukesh D, moderated by one of the event’s official commentators and master of ceremonies, GM Maurice Ashley.

The panel also featured Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President and GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming, CEO of the Singapore Chess Federation.

Both Dvorkovich and Goh Wei Ming thanked the media for attending the presser and highlighted FIDE’s partnership with Google for this match. Dvorkovich even suggested that we were going to experience unprecedented social media coverage.

“When I heard the news that Google was going to join as a titled partner, I was really excited. We were joined by a global company who has reached the whole world, showing that the game of chess is really something.

This partnership brings us a unique visibility, that we haven’t experienced for many years – for that we are very thankful to the Google team. I think during the next three weeks, we shall see something completely unprecedented every day on social media and on the web driven by Google resources.”

After introducing the players, Maurice Ashley opened fire with a barrage of discerning questions to both players, followed by several more perceptive ones from the attending journalists.

Asked about his state of mind and feelings before the match, Ding Liren opened up to the audience: “I was very nervous in my first world championship match, but this time I feel in peace with a lot of energy. It’s my first time in Singapore, and there are many to visit. It’s a warm country and I received a lot of gifts and a warm welcome from many kids this morning.

It’s not so often that I play against a player younger than me. I have more experience than him: he is younger but has already displayed his maturity in many aspects. I hope that both of us can perform our best, but I know that he will not be easy to beat.

Yesterday I reviewed my games from recent times and the quality was not so good. I made many short draws, even in better positions. It’s clear I was far from my peak performance. But I intend to review some of my best games, to regain my confidence and fighting spirit to perform better.”

Gukesh said that he was very happy to be in Singapore and that he had been looking forward to being here since he started playing chess. “There are certainly some nerves, but I feel good about it. The only thought I have is to give my best and see what happens.

It’s an honor and privilege for me to play for India in any kind of event, especially an event like the Olympiad or World Championship. It's such a huge event to represent my country and carry the hopes of Indians: it’s an honor for me. I take it very seriously. For me, it's pretty clear who I'm going to face. I'm going to face Ding Liren, who is one of the best players of the world for more than a decade.

My job is also pretty clear - just go to every game as the best version of myself and play the best moves in the position and if I do that, if I keep playing good chess [...], I'm confident I have all the chances in the world”.

When questioned about the extent a chess player can detach themselves from their personal problems in such an important competition, both players did their best to dodge the issue.

Ding Liren said, "Normally, I can handle them quite well. When playing chess, I do not consider other things. Maybe last year I didn't play so well, but I think that when we come to the stage to play chess, we need to forget about other things. We need to just focus on the game itself."

Gukesh was even more pragmatic, “I think, in this case, my age helps me a lot because I don't have much of a personal life. I mean, my whole life revolves around chess. Everything is taken care of by my parents and my team. My only job is to play chess, so that's quite nice."

Official website:  worldchampionship.fide.com/

Full programme of side-events: worldchampionship.fide.com/Side-events.php

Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)

Photos: Maria Emelianova

About the event

Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, will face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.

The first of the fourteen scheduled games will take place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm. Gukesh will open with White. The match will be hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcasted live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.