Since Indian Grandmaster Dommaraju Gukesh clinched the World Championship title last December, his performance has been inconsistent. While he has shown potential in classical chess, his results in formats like Freestyle Chess and Blitz have not met expectations.

Following Gukesh's participation in the 2025 Norway Chess tournament, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand shared his insights on the young player's performance. In a discussion with Chess.com, Anand offered a thoughtful critique of Gukesh's showing at the event.

Anand remarked, “I would rate him a B. He could have deserved a D, but he managed to answer many questions correctly at Norway Chess. Given his survival and points, a B seems fair.”

After his world championship success, Gukesh faced challenges, narrowly missing victory at the Tata Steel Chess tournament, where he lost in a tiebreaker to fellow Indian Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. His performances in two consecutive Freestyle Chess tournaments were also disappointing, particularly at the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess, where he recorded no wins, 11 draws, and six losses.

However, Gukesh's fortunes shifted at Norway Chess, where he achieved his first classical chess victory against World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, a win that garnered significant attention due to Carlsen's visibly frustrated response. Although Gukesh lost the rematch against Carlsen later in the tournament, he made history by defeating fellow Indian player Arjun Erigaisi in classical chess for the first time in 2025.

Gukesh remained in contention for the title until the final round, ultimately finishing third, trailing behind Magnus Carlsen and American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.

Most recently, the Tamil Nadu grandmaster participated in the SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz tournament in Croatia. He excelled in the rapid segment, securing the top prize, but finished third in the blitz segment, where Carlsen made a remarkable comeback to claim the championship.