Exclusive/ Very Stressful... Felt the nerves': D Gukesh sheds light on his historic win at FIDE Candidates

Grandmaster D Gukesh is the buzz of the hour after the 17-year-old made history in Toronto after becoming the FIDE Candidates Championship winner. He has a glorious chance to challenge for the Chess World Championship title, now held by China's Ding Liren, to become the youngest man to take the crown. The Chennai-based Grandmaster has offered his initial reaction after emerging as the victor at the tournament and becoming a World Championship contender at such a young age.

Kept my composure, played good chess and had the right mental state, says D Gukesh  

After his grand win at the FIDE Candidates Championship, D Gukesh sat down for an exclusive interview with Republic and offered his post-game reaction. He opened up on keeping calm and focusing on playing good chess and keeping his mental state right in order to play right and use good moves. 

"It was a very stressful game. Very big game for me. I had a clear plan going into the game, I managed to execute it, got the job done. Luck was on my side.

"The Last day, I felt the nerves. At some point when in my game when the position got a bit easier for me to play, i found it quite hard to not look at the pother game because that was crucial for; If i could win the tournament directly or not…

“About my game, I played some good chess and when you're in the right mental state, you usually play the good moves and do all the right things. It was a combination of me being in good shape and trying to just fully focus on the game and handling my nerves well,” revealed Gukesh