How mind guru Paddy Upton is getting Gukesh D ready for the big fight

It’s exactly two weeks to go before the most important chess match of the year – the Fide World Championship tie between Chinese Ding Liren and challenger Gukesh D gets underway in Singapore on 25 November. The mind games, however, have begun well before that.

The Gukesh camp, bullish about the chances of the precocious 18-year-old in view of his superlative form this year, has added someone in his corner who knows a thing or two about bringing out the best in Indian sportspersons. Paddy Upton, the South African mind guru who had worked with the 2011 ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and the bronze medallist Indian hockey team in the Paris Olympics, had been playing his part at Gukesh’s corner for the past four months.

What exactly had been the high profile coach’s role so far, given his own confession that he was never much of a chess buff? In Upton’s own words, he is trying to help Gukesh arrive at a mental state where he is neither too relaxed nor over-anxious at the World Championship. While Ding is the reigning champion, his chances of retaining the crown have been talked down by many Grandmasters with his predecessor Magnus Carlsen recently saying that the Indian was a “significant favourite”.

“Everything can be right in the lead-up to the big moments of performance, but if the arrow is not sharp, it won’t penetrate the bulls’ eye. Similarly, you might have a golfer whose game is perfect but things go wrong if they’ve got a limp wrist at the moment of impact. I think there is now more recognition in the world of sport of how mental gains can reduce these moments,” Upton said on his social media handle.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the high performance coach likened Gukesh to the likes of a Virat Kohli or Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a parallel in the cricketing universe – performers who can revel under pressure.  “One thing about Gukesh is that he’s one of those who brings out his best in the really big moments. Someone like Virat Kohli in the T20 World Cup earlier this year or Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni in the 2011 World Cup.

‘’Most players are overwhelmed by the really big occasion. But there’s only a few who I would call big-match temperament players. Gukesh is someone who has shown all the signs of being that. The bigger the match, the better chess he’s most likely to play. I think this World Championship is going to bring the best out of him,” he said.

The other area where Upton had  been helping Gukesh was with getting quality sleep. “Deep sleep is where the body regenerates, which is important for athletes involved in physical sports. However, REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is essential for regenerating the mind and learning. As fitness gains happen during recovery, gains from learning new information become more deeply embedded during REM sleep. Chess differs from most sports because the brain’s ability to memorise, plan and think is the primary performance tool,” Upton said.

Ding Liren, who had a tryst with depression sometime back, seemed to be loving the underdog billing for a change. ‘’I’m worried about losing very badly. Hopefully, it won’t happen,’’ Ding said in a chat with chess app Take Take Take’s YouTube channel.  ‘’I will be the underdog approaching this match. I hope I could become a totally different player,’’ he said soon after the Olympiad.

Even though Ding called himself the underdog for this match, it’s a tag which suited the Chinese last time. He was just that before the start of the last title match against Ian Nepomniachtchi but ended up winning it. The 14 rounds in Singapore is expected to be a masterclass  – and Gukesh has rightly stopped short of making any predictions.

Deep down, he knows Ding is an excellent all-round player whom he is yet to beat in classic chess, barring a Freestyle chess event (where starting positions were not the same as in conventional chess). Can the Indian have the last laugh this time?