Russian chess icon Anatoly Karpov has sparked a heated debate within the global chess community by characterizing D Gukesh’s historic world title as an “accident.” While the 19 year old Indian Grandmaster made history on December 12, 2024, by defeating Ding Liren to become the youngest world champion ever, Karpov maintains that Magnus Carlsen remains the true undisputed king of the sport.
The “Accidental” Champion
The 74 year old Karpov, a six time world champion himself, argued that Gukesh’s 7.5 to 6.5 victory over Ding Liren was a result of the Chinese Grandmaster faltering in a manner that was uncharacteristic.
“Firstly, Gukesh became world champion by accident because he was not supposed to win the match against Ding Liren. Liren lost a game he shouldn’t have lost. Ding would have remained world champion then,” Karpov was quoted as saying by RookReview.
Beyond the specific match dynamics, Karpov pointed to the absence of Magnus Carlsen as the primary reason for the current title vacancy. Carlsen, the world number one, famously abdicated his throne in 2023 and has since largely stepped away from the Classical format.
“Carlsen is effectively still the champion. Officially, it’s Gukesh, but because Carlsen stopped playing. And so Carlsen, if he wanted to, could take the crown back,” the Russian legend added.
Praise for India’s “State Program”
Despite his dismissive remarks regarding the specific title match, Karpov offered high praise for the systemic infrastructure that allowed Indian chess to flourish. He credited a “serious state program” for the current Indian dominance, echoing sentiments previously shared by Garry Kasparov and Hikaru Nakamura.
Karpov highlighted the practical support provided to Indian players, noting that the government assisted by “buying apartments or renting apartments which they gave to chess players” to facilitate their travel between European tournaments. This infrastructure led to a historic double gold for India at the 2024 Chess Olympiad.
“This produced results, many grandmasters appeared. And at some point, organizers of chess tournaments in Europe even thought about how to limit the number of Indians in a single tournament. So that, say, no more than three representatives of India would compete in one tournament,” Karpov observed.
Road to the 2026 Defense
Gukesh, who has faced a dip in form since his coronation, is currently preparing for his title defense later this year. His challenger will be determined at the upcoming Candidates Tournament, scheduled to take place from March 28 to April 16 in Cyprus.
The build up to the Candidates has seen experts like Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand weigh in on their favorites, with many noting that Gukesh is currently navigating a “Rocky Balboa” phase of his career fighting to prove his status as a legitimate champion rather than a transitional one.
As the chess world turns its eyes to Cyprus for the Candidates, Karpov’s comments ensure that whoever emerges as the challenger will be playing under the shadow of the absent Magnus Carlsen and the controversial “accidental” tag attached to the reigning champion.
