Published on: Dec 11, 2025 05:22 pm IST
Richard Rapport, who was part of Ding Liren’s team of seconds, spoke about the World C’ship in Singapore.
D Gukesh defeated Ding Liren last year to become the youngest-ever FIDE World Champion in history. It was a historic moment which showcased the rising popularity and investment in chess in India. After his win against Liren, the focus also shifted to Gukesh’s team of six seconds, consisting of Grzegorz Gajewski, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Jan Krzysztof Duda, Jan Klimkowski, Pentala Harikrishna and Vincent Keymer.
Recently, Richard Rapport, who was part of Liren’s team of seconds, spoke about the World C’ship in Singapore. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “When I saw Team Gukesh, it was a very impressive team of people. To be able to afford and to be able to maintain such a setup, it’s just very impressive.”
Pointing out the popularity of chess in India, he said, “India has a very strong base of support, I would say. I’ve seen these guys from India for a very long time starting as kids and then eventually they grew up. I’ve played all of them over time. I think they have these logos on their clothes (of their sponsors). So when they go to tournaments they don’t really mind about the prize money, which for me was kind of essential to make a living; to make enough money to kind of invest back into your career, but ultimately you want to make money from it. I think with the Indians, they have a safety net that the system gives them. It kind of catches them! That certainly helps.”
“Of course, there are also extremely talented individuals. Like, that’s not a shocking factor,” he added.
Paddy Upton was also part of Gukesh’s team as his mental conditioning coach. Upton has worked with the Indian cricket team and hockey team in the past. He also worked with Viswanathan Anand as his mentor.
