'You Ignore It': Viswanathan Anand Backs Up D Gukesh Amid Criticism After Winning World Championship

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh made history after becoming the youngest ever to secure the World Ches Championship crown. The 18-year-old from Chennai stood tall against the reigning champion, China's Ding Liren, to become the new chess champion of the world. Celebrations and applause for Gukesh came from all over while also attracting criticism over the title showdown. Indian Chess Icon Viswanathan Anand wants Gukesh to ignore the critique.

Viswanathan Anand Urges Gukesh To Fend Off Criticism After World Chess Championship Win

After D Gukesh won the World Championship, Viswanathan Anand urged the Indian chess prodigy to disregard those who were doubting the quality of the World Championship title matchup with China's Ding Liren, stating that triumph always brings objection.

"I feel very happy. I was literally watching history being made yesterday. It (criticism) comes with every match. To be honest, I think it just comes with the territory. You ignore it and that's all. You know Gukesh's achievement, the whole qualification, everything and his concomitant rise. I mean if you look at the Olympiad, he showed that he's actually become a much stronger player.

"He won the Candidates this year, so many good results in Toronto and he's here. So this stuff (criticism) just comes with it. You cannot expect to become world champion and not face some random criticism," Anand said while speaking to PTI.

Notably, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik was the one who criticized the summit clash, raising concern over the quality of the play.

Also Read: Highest Peak Of All: Gukesh Crowned Youngest World Champion, Ex-Owner Of Feat Garry Kasparov Reacts

Former World Chess Champions Upset Over D Gukesh vs Ding Liren's Match Quality In Summit Clash 

Former World Champion from Russia, Vladimir Kramnik, was particularly not happy with the quality of play which was on display during the world chess championship match. China's Ding Liren made a crucial error that Kramnik described as childish, expressing his dissatisfaction with the game's quality.

Kramnik took to 'X' [Formerly known as Twitter] to vent his dissatisfaction over the World Championship match. "No comment. Sad. End of chess as we know it." In another tweet, he said, "Never yet has a WC title been decided by such a childish one-move blunder."

Magnus Carlsen of Norway has also criticized the calibre of play in previous rounds, saying that the match did not appear to be between two world championship contenders but rather resembled the second or third round of an open tournament.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu Governor, CM Stalin Greet Chess Champion Gukesh For Record Feat

[With PTI Inputs]