ESPN: 'Love at first sight'

How Anand created the Gukesh-Gajewski team that's shaken the chess world

Grzegorz who, you ask? He's been working with India's brightest young talent the last couple of years. Theirs is a relationship that dates back to 2019, when Gukesh beat Gajewski at the World Rapid Championships. They were then at almost opposite ends of their playing careers. Gajewski, then 34, was a veteran GM, known more for his strategizing than for big titles; Gukesh, then 13, had become a GM earlier that year and was breaking age-specific records in the chess world.

Their reunion, a couple of years ago, came about through Viswanathan Anand. Through the Westbridge-Anand Chess Academy, Gajewski was already working with the cream of Indian chess – including Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa. "It was difficult to say who was the most talented," Gajewski told ESPN.

By December 2022, when Gukesh was looking primed to take on the best in the world, Anand decided that the youngster would need a full-time coach working exclusively with him. He asked Gajewski about the possibility, and he had no doubt about it.

Did Gajewski need convincing, Anand was asked on the sidelines of the press meet in Singapore ahead of the World Championships. "It's not about convincing," he replied. "I told Gajewski, 'This is a good stage. What do you think?' He said, 'He's a fantastic guy, enjoy working with him.' They tried and it worked. It was love at first sight."

• Read the rest of the ESPN article here.
• And here's an ESPN summary by Aaditya Narayan on the World Championship match.

And here are two video interviews by ChessBase India with Grzegorz Gajewski:

Note that the correct pronunciation of his name is "Je-gosh"

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