The inside story: Sagar Shah interviews Gukesh

by Sagar Shah
12/17/2024 – Chess is booming in India and Sagar Shah, founder and driving force behind ChessBase India, has played a major role in this process. ChessBase India has also followed the career of Gukesh, the new world champion, from the very beginning. In an extensive, almost three-hour interview, Sagar Shah and Gukesh now talk about Gukesh's path to the World Championship, the 14 games of the competition and the choice of his seconds, among other things. Gukesh also reveals how and why Vincent Keymer, who is actually a rival of Gukesh, became part of the team in this revealing interview.
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Gukesh said that of course Keymer was "a fantastic chess player with a deep understanding of chess and very good knowledge of openings", but the idea of bringing him into the team was mainly a long WhatsApp message that Keymer sent to support Gukesh at an important moment in the 2024 Candidates Tournament. Keymer sent it after Gukesh had suffered a bitter defeat against Alireza Firouzja in round 7 of the Candidates Tournament. Gukesh said that this WhatsApp had done him good because Keymer was actually a rival.

When Gukesh casually told his second Grzegorz Gajewski about this WhatsApp, Gajewski suggested the next day that Keymer should join his team. Gukesh agreed. Keymer also agreed, and thus became part of the world champion's team.

The inside story of Gukesh becoming the 18th World Champion

Time stamps

0:00 – Interview Begins
0:10 – 🎥 A video that truly aged well
2:00 – 🏆 The aftermath of becoming the 18th World Champion at just 18
2:00-4:00 – 🤔 Reflecting on the journey after achieving the title
4:10 – 🥇 Qualifying for the Candidates and the lead-up to the championship
5:15 – 🤝 Teamwork making the dream work
6:00 – ❤️ Reasons behind choosing team members (with touching and inspiring insights)
10:00 – 🙌 Vishy Sir OP
11:00 – 👨‍👦 Gukesh's dad shares thoughts on Gajevsky
11:40 – 🪂 A leap of faith: Bungee jumping with Gayu
12:30 – 🙏 A note of gratitude to Westbridge and WACA
13:00 – 🤗 The friend that is Gayu
15:10 – 🧠 Game 1 Analysis
15:30 – 😅 The nerves during the World Championship match
16:20 – 🔍 Gukesh on Ding's form
17:30 – 🪟 Inside the glass box
18:10 – 🥇 Sagar for GM (Grandmaster)
18:30 – 📘 Insights from The Barefoot Coach Paddy Upton
20:00 – 😰 A moment of intensity: "Literally shaking"
21:10 – 🇫🇷 A touch of French flair
21:30 – ♟️ Ding’s loyalty to his openings
24:00 – 🤔 The G4 idea
27:00 – 🎯 How Ding outplayed Gukesh in Game 1 and Gukesh’s mental preparation
28:45 – 💪 Gukesh regains his MoJo
31:05 – 🚪 A chance meeting with Vishy Sir in the lift after Game 1
32:00 – 🧩 Fun segment: Chess Champions Trivia
33:30 – 🇸🇬 Mention of the Singapore Chess Federation
34:10 – 🎥 A look at Game 2
36:30 – 🤝 Holding Ding to a draw in Game 2
37:07 – 🤭 Game 3: An amusing opening choice
40:00 – ⏱️ Ding’s deliberate approach to opening moves
41:30 – 🏅 Both Ding and Gukesh share an ambitious mindset
47:00 – 🏆 Ding proves his mettle as a champion
48:20 – ♟️ Game 4
49:45 – ♟️ Game 5
55:10 – 🧠 Game 6: A truly "mental" game
1:00:00 – 📅 Gukesh’s daily routine during the championship
1:01:50 – ♟️ Game 7: An “Almost Novelty” moment
1:09:00 – 🎯 Game 8 and the F6 opening
1:13:00 – 😃 Gukesh’s excitement peaks
1:19:00 – 🔄 Recaps by Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura
1:19:40 – 🌐 Living in a bubble during the championship
1:20:30 – 💻 Gukesh’s love for Google
1:21:00 – 🕵️‍♂️ “Google for Chess”
1:22:00 – 💰 “Bring me the money” moment
1:23:00 – 😌 Gukesh’s calm, eyes closed
1:25:00 – ♟️ Game 9: A Catalan battle
1:27:00 – 🛌 The second rest day: Time for reflection
1:29:00 – 😵 When Gukesh’s mind started playing tricks
1:32:00 – 🧺 A championship picnic
1:34:50 – 🎢 Gukesh tries a zipline and thinks of rollercoasters
1:36:00 – 🪂 The bungee jumping deal
1:38:19 – 🤔 Anand vs. Gelfand Trivia and Gukesh’s internal battle
1:40:00 – ♟️ Game 10
1:42:10 – 🔥 Game 11: A real fight!
1:54:00 – ♘ A brilliant knight move: Knight a1!
1:55:30 – 😯 Ding’s priceless expressions
1:57:20 – 🙌 Game 12: Ding shows his class, earning Gukesh’s respect
2:05:00 – 🤝 Heading into Game 13 with a level score
2:06:00 – 🗣️ Speaking with Paddy and meeting him post-victory
2:11:10 – ♟️ Game 13
2:12:40 – 🏆 Discussing great champions
2:18:00 – 🗨️ A chat with Vishnu Sir
2:22:20 – 🤔 Gukesh’s thoughts on tiebreaks
2:23:30 – 🚀 Pushing for a win in a drawn game
2:25:35 – ♟️ Game 14: The final showdown
2:38:50 – 🤩 The moment Gukesh realizes he’s winning
2:40:00 – 😭 Raw emotions unfold on the board
2:42:00 – 🏠 Emotions shared at the Habitat
2:43:00 – 👨‍👦 Heartfelt moments with dad and coach
2:44:00 – 🪂 Bungee jumping memories!
2:46:00 – 🍴 Gukesh’s spatula story
2:47:00 – 🎯 What’s next after achieving greatness at 18?
2:51:00 – 👑 Thoughts on Magnus Carlsen

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Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.