‘If I had any money left, I would put it on Gukesh.’
Dutch Grandmaster Loek van Wely has a clear winner for the highly anticipated World Chess Championship contest set to be held between India prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju and face China’s Ding Liren in November-December.
In an exclusive chat with News18, Loek van Wely, who recently trained Triveni Continental Kings, spoke on a variety of topics ranging from the World Championship in Singapore, rise of Indian grandmasters, his stint with the Triveni Continental Kings and winning two back-to-back Global Chess League titles.
Excerpts…
How has it been leading your team to a second straight Global Chess title?
Well, the first win was completely different from the second win. The first win was like, ‘okay, it’s something new’ and in some way it was unexpected. We had great team spirit and the team was being run very well, by the guys from Triveni.
But the second was more about proving that it was not just luck, that it was about consistency, about good work. But as I say, you need to have some bit of luck. Every team needs to have a bit of luck, although you work very hard.
Two back-to-back titles. What’s your secret sauce?
The Triveni guys did all the hard work behind the scenes in Delhi. They made us feel that we had a lot of support in the background, they did all social media stuff and everything was arranged very well. Our team manager was really on it. All what we had to do was to select the right players, to make them feel comfortable, and make them play well.
Most teams have at least one Indian in their ranks but not yours. Can you tell us about your selection process?
I would love to have a player like Gukesh or [Arjun] Erigaisi in my team here, but Gukesh was not available because of the preparation for the World Championship match. Erigaisi was possible, he was on the market, but then you have to make a choice, ‘do I take a strong male player or a strong female player?’ If the prize was right, I would love to take Erigaisi, but even Erigaisi was not performing according to what people may be expecting from him. It’s all about getting the right played for the right price.
How good was it having Alireza Firouza on your side as an icon player?
Alireza was very important, because, firstly he’s a world class player. He made the best score on the first board, so that was crucial. Also, he’s a very friendly guy and it was good to have him in the team from social point of view. He’s like one of us basically. He was there with his brother. We hang out, have dinner together or go to the gym together. You feel like some kind of bonding.
Chess-wise, he had the best score. And I’ve seen when he was low on time, the guy really shows how good he is. You can tell that he is very gifted.
Players from different countries and cultures come together to play this league for a single team. How has been the challenge?
Sometimes, it is not even easy when players are from the same country. They might have internal issues as well. I know how it is in India but that is also between the Russian players, so it is not so simple. I took for example [Alexandra] Kosteniuk and [Valentina] Gunina, because they have played a lot together and they were Olympiad gold medal winners. Similarly, last year, we had Wei Yi and Yu Yong Yi; we had Chinese Olympiad Gold winners. So of course, I am looking at how good characters, they are. I am kind of the glue of the team. I have to connect everybody, but this year it was a bit more difficult than the last year.
Why was this year more difficult than the previous year?
One of the problems was the Russian-Ukrainian war. People were taking positions, and that is already very sensitive. It can lead to very awkward situations. More than that, you have to deal with personal problems of the players. It’s not that they were kind of disliking each other, but just personal psychological or physical problems. Nothing connected to other players.
You also work with Italian national team. So how is it different with this league compared to other team events?
I’m coaching, for example, the Italian national team. The difference is that my chess strength maybe more compared to the top Italian player. While here, I have some players, that I don’t need to tell them how to play chess. It will be more like a sign of disrespect.
The pressures also cannot be compared. Here [Global Chess League], the first prize is, half a million with the Italian national team, your bonus will be 1,000 euros. It’s completely different because with Italy, you just try to do as best as possible, it is sort of easy; and here only the first place counts. All other results—even reaching the final and then losing it—will not make me feel happy.
What’s your take on the growth of chess in India in recent times?
We were expecting at some point that we are going to see the results, because it was clear that Indian has such a big player base and a lot of talent. It was actually two years ago at the Olympiad in Chennai that it started to catalyse. They only won silver then, but now India managed to win the double golds – men’s, and women’s. It was bound to happen.
Gukesh is going to face Ding Liren for the World Championship soon. Your thoughts on the showdown and an early prediction for the winner.
If I had any money left, I would put it on Gukesh (laughs). But I really hope that Ding can pull himself together. If we see the data we have, the way Gukesh was playing the Olympiad, and the recent results from Ding’s matches, it’s not looking good. Maybe there’s some wonder doctor in China who can transform Ding Liren to his older self. But Gukesh should be prepared for the worst scenario. He should not think it’s a walk in the park until it’s over.
