Paddy Upton decodes Gukesh's chess world title winning psychology
The renowned mind-coach reveals the special tenets of the Indian teenager.
Renowned mental conditioning coach, Paddy Upton was confused when Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren played Rf2 in the final game of the World Chess Championships on Thursday.
Usually a calm individual, Paddy panicked over the change of expression from Gukesh.
However, when the chess connoisseur nearby told him that Ding had made a mistake, Paddy felt better knowing that the youngster was on the cusp of history.
"If I were to be honest, I was sitting in the VIP section, two seats away from Gukesh on my side of the glass. But to be honest, my reaction was panic because I saw the energy change," Paddy told The Bridge in an exclusive interview.
"I saw something in Gukesh's face. Although there needed to be silence in the viewing area, I heard a collective gasp and I knew something had happened. So I was panicking until someone said Ding had made the mistake and Gukesh had got him, then I went from panic to exuberance," he explained the last few moments of the World Chess Championships.
The 56-year-old South African mental conditioning coach has been working with now Chess World Champion D Gukesh for the past six months and has been instrumental in the triumph as Gukesh pointed out in the press conference yesterday.
Initial hesitation in working with Gukesh
A seasoned mental conditioning coach, Paddy has worked with multiple Indian athletes in the past.
These include the Indian Cricket team that won the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2024 Olympic bronze medal winning Indian men's hockey team.
However, this is the first time Paddy has worked with a Chess player.
Usually not preferring to work with teenagers, when Viren Rasquinha approached Paddy, he decided to give the much-talked teenager from India a shot.
"I was initially a bit hesitant. I'd never worked with a 17-year-old. I tend not to work with younger people because they don't have a great capacity generally for self-reflection, which is required for mental coaching," said Paddy.
"However, shortly into the first conversation, I realized this is not a 17-year-old. This is a very special human being. And you know, it's just the relationship, and the conversation with Gukesh has just grown, you know, over the last six months," said Paddy praising the maturity of D Gukesh.
Decoding Ding's mistake and Gukesh's decision-making
A lot of chatter was doing the rounds about how Ding made a mistake and Gukesh capitalized on the same. The moment looked like a blunder that came out of nowhere.
However, Paddy offered a different perspective to it terming it as the constant pressure from Gukesh to keep the chess board alive which led to that moment which was a mix of both pressure and lapse in concentration on Liren's part.
"One of the biggest problems in chess is the distraction that takes the focus away. The one big example is of what Ding did in the 14th game and how it gave Gukesh an opening to clinch the world title," said Paddy.
Explaining it further, Paddy said, "But it wasn't something that happened at the moment. It was a build-up to that moment. In those 14 games, Gukesh knew he was slightly better prepared. He was mentally and physically in a better space. It was all about putting pressure on Ding by dragging the game. Draining his energy and keeping him at bay by dragging the game was part of the plan."
"The plan was to use every single opportunity to put pressure on his opponent to set up that one moment where he might crack. And so it took a long time for Gukesh to get to the place where he got and almost helped Ding or created an opportunity for Ding to make the mistake. And Gukesh was fresh enough to be able to capitalize on it," Paddy said.
Not overthinking is key in a sport like Chess
Chess is known to be a game where the brain is constantly at work and thinking. That is where the best in the world also falter at times when the brain overthinks.
"It is important to have a balance between thinking and playing on instinct. Chess is different from cricket or hockey where the players have to act more on instinct. In Chess, there is a lot of time to think but players tend to overthink," explained Paddy.
"When you overthink, you lose time and we have seen Gukesh doing it. Ding also did the same where he put a bit of pressure on himself by overthinking some situations."
What makes chess unique is that while players have to be prepared with permutations and combinations of the next moves of their opponents, sometimes thinking too deeply can take away the focus from the current situation often resulting in blunders.
"Chess is unique in that because you do need to think a few moves deep. But if you overthink, you put yourself under time pressure. And we know some of the best chess players in the world and Magnus Carlsen, he's someone who trusts his intuition," said Paddy
"Magnus thinks less, and reacts a bit quicker than others and that is what makes him the best in the world. Gukesh did the same in that moment and against Ding and today he is the youngest-ever World Champion," Paddy concluded.
With this partnership, Paddy has closed another successful year with the Indian athletes delivering a bronze medal at the Olympics with the men's hockey team and a world title with D Gukesh.
Stay connected with The Bridge on #socials.