After he became the world champion in 2024, Gukesh had credited Anand’s guidance in his campaign to become the world champion. (Express Photos)Even as the rest of the chess world seems to be fixated on world champion Gukesh’s bad form in the 18 months since he became world champion, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has expressed hope that the 20-year-old will be able to steer the ship around in time for the world championship title defence against Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov at the end of this year.Gukesh is yet to win a single tournament since becoming world champion in December 2024 at the age of 18. The ongoing Chennai Grand Masters tournament too seems to not going his way, with Gukesh winless after four rounds in the seven-round event. The three draws and a loss have seen Gukesh slump to the last spot in the eight-player standings which he shares with two others.When Anand, who had turned up at the Westin Chennai Velachery hotel to make the ceremonial first move for round 4 on Sunday, was asked about Gukesh’s run of form since becoming world champion, the Indian chess legend said: “He must be disappointed with the results, but anyway he will play some more games. Right now it feels like we’re all beating him on the head with this. He’s had a bad streak for a while, but he can snap out of it even before. Hopefully, the Chess Olympiad (in Uzbekistan in September) inspires him. He still has the chance to do it here in Chennai.”After the recent Norway Chess tournament had ended in another last-place finish for Gukesh, he had spoken about having a loss of motivation in the immediate months after becoming world champion too.“It was a longer stretch, right? But yeah, I too had moments like that (after the 2010 world championship triumph over Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov). For me, 2011 was a slow year in general,” Anand said.Also Read | Viswanathan Anand to Gukesh: Ignore the criticism, but some of it is legitimateAnand also addressed his decision to not run for the Deputy President post of FIDE in the upcoming elections with incumbent president Arkady Dvorkovich. The Dvorkovich campaign has already mentioned that Anand remains a part of the team, but he will not be the Russian’s second-in-command.“I simply wanted to have more time at home. My son will probably go to university in three years. I thought these are the years I should be here and I think that was kind of a big motivation to get a different role. But I’m still very much part of the team and I would contribute what I can,” said Anand.Story continues below this adAfter he became the world champion in 2024, Gukesh had credited Anand’s guidance in his campaign to become the world champion. This time around too was Anand going to help him?“I can’t tell you. If I tell you, you can’t believe me. What can I say,” Anand chuckled.Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. He primarily writes on chess and Olympic sports, and co-hosts the Game Time podcast, a weekly offering from Express Sports. He also writes a weekly chess column, On The Moves. ... Read More Tags:GukeshViswanathan Anand