When Gukesh is at his best, he only plays the best moves, just like a chess engine: Dubov

Daniil Dubov reflected on his experience working with Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship matches, expressed his thoughts on the Gukesh – Ding match, and gave his remarks on Gukesh’s engine-like game.

After the conclusion of the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz, Dubov did an interview with The Hindu where he told the interviewer that he felt Gukesh was a favourite but not to the extent many people seemed to believe.

It is no secret that every person who takes an interest in competitive chess believes that the World Champion Ding Liren will be going into this match as an underdog. “I want to see them fight and don’t want a match that gets over with three or four games to finish,” said Dubov.

Gukesh also made a remark on D. Gukesh’s chess which, according to chess enthusiasts on reddit, was rather a “decorated” compliment. Dubov said, “When Gukesh is at his best, he only plays the best moves, just like a chess engine – He plays the way that is sort of difficult to explain. There is seemingly no basic idea behind them, but they are all the best. And that is the feeling that you normally get from an engine.”

Dubov then went on to expand upon his experience working with Magnus Carlsen, twice. The Russian Grandmaster believes that he made a significant contribution to the improvement of Magnus’ openings.

With chess engines and modern AI getting stronger by the minute, Dubov believes that the importance of seconds (helpers) has diminished.

The interview concluded with Dubov drawing a parallel between India and the former Soviet Union, in terms of the chess strength of an average person walking on the street.