After his World Chess Championship victory in Singapore last year, D Gukesh is probably the most popular Grandmaster in India. The 18-year-old reigned supreme against defending champion Ding Liren, coming out on top in a shock victory. The championship reached the decisive Game 14 and it looked like it was going according to Liren’s plan, who was trying to force out a tie-breaker.

But a massive blunder in the 55th move by the Chinese Grandmaster saw him resign and concede to Gukesh. The victory sent the chess world into a meltdown, as a year ago, Gukesh wasn’t even expected to challenge Liren for the title. But the Indian Grandmaster stunned everyone to win the Candidates Tournament, to qualify for a showdown with Liren.

Gukesh received praises and tributes from current and former chess players, but some had a negative response. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who is also Gukesh’s former coach, criticised the match, and labelled Liren’s mistake as a child-like blunder which changed the game in an instant.

Viswanathan Anand silences Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik

Speaking during a recent event, India chess legend Viswanathan Anand came up with the perfect response to silence the likes of Carlsen and Kramnik, for their criticism of Gukesh’s World C’ship victory. Anand pointed out, “Gukesh never really changed the strategy of pushing. Unexpected things happened during the match, but he was there the next day, pushing again. The rook [blunder] didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

Gukesh also had his own response to Carlsen after his win in Singapore, stating that he understood that the quality of the games weren’t always upto to the mark, but overall it was a good championship match. Gukesh also challenged Carlsen to the title, but the Norwegian has already denied such a development.

Gukesh skipped the year-ending World Rapid and Blitz Championship, and will return to action this year, as he is set to take on the likes of Anand and Magnus Carlsen. Meanwhile, in the latest FIDE rankings, he is World No. 5, and India’s No. 2.