D Gukesh may not remain chess world champion by the end of 2026, the legendary Judit Polgar has predicted in a recent interview. Judit Polgar, the only woman to be ranked in the world’s top 10, also spoke on what could help 19-year-old Gukesh to recover from an alarming dip before he defends his world title later this year.

Gukesh won the world chess championship at 18 by beating Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren in December 2024, but hasn’t won a major title since becoming the world’s youngest world champion. At the recently-concluded Prague Chess Masters 2026, Gukesh spoke about the
need for a break from the spotlight as he finished with just one win.

Gukesh to lose world chess title crown?

The challenger for Gukesh’s world crown will be decided in April 2026, with eight players set to take part in FIDE Candidates 2026. And Judit Polgar feels whoever wins the Candidates will also become the next world chess champion.

“There is a very, very big question mark whether Gukesh can stay the world champion (at the end of this year),” Polgar told The Indian Express. “I’m sure Gukesh has a great future, but I’m not sure he’s going to be world champion after the next world championship match. But it doesn’t mean he’s not going to regain it again if it happens.”

While analysing what has gone wrong with Gukesh, Polgar felt that the teenager is taking fewer risks as compared to the time when he was not a world champion and had displayed remarkable mental strength, which is not the case anymore.

“First of all, he was extremely young when he became a world champion. In the world championship, he had a very special momentum because Ding Liren (who Gukesh beat to become the world champion) was very clearly having very difficult psychological and mental issues. At the same time, I think it was fantastic for Gukesh that he did not win on the chessboard, but he won because of his mental strength,” Polgar told The Indian Express.

“Gukesh was able to stand the pressure better. He was ready to make mistakes, but bounce back from them. He was ready to concentrate and focus. Like in a safari, the jaguar comes and attacks when he’s hunting. So he was ready for this, that whenever Ding made a mistake, he was ready. This is what happened with rook to f2 in the final game.”

“At that world championship (in November-December 2024), Gukesh played well, but he did not play so much better than Ding at all. But psychological and mental (strength), I think it was a very important part of his preparation, and that paid off,” added Polgar.

The suggestion for Gukesh to script a comeback was to sharpen his mental conditioning and go back to taking risks.

“He has to not only work on his chess, but also has to spend a lot of time on his psychological mental preparation. How not to be afraid of making mistakes and play it out,” Polgar shared.

Indian chess legend Pravin Thipsay has delivered a bitter reality check as the young chess stars from the country, including world D Gukesh, have struggled to replicate their blistering form from 2024. Indian chess experienced an unprecedented rise in 2024 as they won a historic gold medal at the Chess Olympiad, while Gukesh won the FIDE Candidates at just 17 and later the World Chess Championship at the age of 18.

However, the Chennai Grandmaster has struggled to live up to the expectations so far, not winning any major title since becoming the youngest world chess champion. Gukesh recently had a poor outing in the Prague Chess Masters 2026, winning just one match. He also apologised to fans during an interview through the tournament for not signing autographs, as Gukesh
admitted that he needed some downtime.

It’s not just Gukesh, even R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi have had a few troubled fast few months. Despite being one of the favourites, they failed to reach the semi-finals at the FIDE World Cup 2025 in Goa.

‘Gukesh have lost some accuracy’

Dissecting the poor form of the renowned Indian trio, Thipsay said that Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi’s games have lost some shine in recent months, while the opponents have started to prepare better than ever for the Indian GMs.

“Praggnanandhaa was once one of the most dangerous attacking players, but he isn’t getting many attacking positions now. Gukesh was phenomenal defensively, as his accuracy in events like the Olympiad was extraordinary,” Thipsay, who became a Grandmaster in 1997, told Times of India.

“Rivals are preparing specific strategies to complicate games. Meanwhile, Arjun and Gukesh have lost some accuracy, and Praggnanandhaa some initiative.”

‘Indian chess is individualistic’

The most damning of the verdict came when Thipsay spoke about the overall chess structure in India and underlined that the rise of Gukesh and Co has been scripted by their individual brilliance. He argued that Indian chess stars are not the product of a system like the former Russian world champions, but rather their own hard work and their families’ sacrifices.

Thipsay added that while Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi have been part of the world’s top 10, we may not get players of the same stature in the near future due to a flawed system.

“Indian chess has always been very individualistic. None of these champions has been created by a system,” Thipsay told TOI.

“Parents sacrifice careers, invest time and resources, and players build themselves through sheer dedication. Just because three players reach the top 10 today does not mean we will automatically produce three more in ten years.”

Chess world champion D Gukesh’s form keeps worsening with every passing game as he suffered a shocking defeat against Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the fifth round of the Prague Chess Master 2026 on Sunday. The 19-year-old Indian chess star, Gukesh, finds himself in the bottom pack after his second defeat in the tournament.

He had earlier
lost to Jorden van Foreest in the third round. But the defeat to world No 5 Abdusattorov is of special significance as Gukesh has often found himself in tough positions against the 21-year-old Uzbekistani.

It was Gukesh’s error against Abdusattorov that helped Uzbekistan win the World Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai. The world champion blundered again earlier this year in a match against Abdusattorov, suffering a loss at the Tata Steel Masters 2026.

How Gukesh blundered against Abdusattorov

And maybe the poor history went against Gukesh in the latest match against Abdusattorov, as he lost due to a last-minute blunder after initially taking control of the match on the back of a new opening idea.

However, Gukesh’s time management was very poor, as he let the advantage slip away in the middlegame, and kept scrambling in the dying minutes. Eventually, it was the blunder of 67…Qf7, when Qd6 was the right move that forced Gukesh to resign after 69 moves.

Time management has become a recurring issue for Gukesh, who has often been seen struggling to stay with the game, allowing his opponents to win not by sheer brilliance but by capitalising on the errors of the world champion.

Abdusattorov acknowledged Gukesh’s weakness after beating him again, as he proclaimed that the Chennai Grandmaster “panicked” against him.

“It was a completely crazy game. In his opening, he was well prepared. I knew that this line exists…the more I thought about my position, the more I didn’t like it,” Abdusattorov told ChessBase India.

“But at some point, he started to misplay it. I felt like there was something for White to get an advantage more than what I could manage…Then I started to outplay him closer to time control and obviously, when we passed time control, I thought my position should be winning…at the end, he was low on time and he panicked.”

Gukesh appears helpless in loss vs Abdusattorov 

The video of Gukesh resigning to Abdusattorov just after struggling to find the right moves under time pressure is also going viral on social media, painting a bad picture of the world chess champion.

Check out the final moments of Nodirbek Abdusattorov taking down the World Champion D Gukesh in Round 5 of the Prague Masters 2026.

Video: @ram_abhyudaya/ ChessBase India pic.twitter.com/pvHGolQb7d

— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) March 1, 2026

“This Gukesh would fare worse against even a 15-16 yr old Gukesh. Hope he utilizes the next 2 months of break well to introspect hard,” a popular chess handle wrote on X.

“I suspect physio-lifestyle issues compounded by stress. How do your chess skills just decline over an year at 19 yrs of age?”

This Gukesh would fare worse against even a 15-16 yr old Gukesh. Hope he utilizes the next 2 months of break well to introspect hard.

I suspect physio-lifestyle issues compounded by stress. How do your chess skills just decline over an year at 19 yrs of age? https://t.co/GMr3ferca7

— Gutsy Gambit (@gutsy_gambit) March 1, 2026

“Atrocious time management by Gukesh. Don’t have much complaints on his play but this is something his team has to definitely work on,” another chess fan underlined.

All in all, things are getting worse for the teenager who must try to do whatever possible to rediscover his form. He will be defending his world title later this year.

World chess champion D Gukesh dropped out of the top 10 in the live chess rating after suffering a crushing defeat to world No 30 Jorden van Foreest in the third round of the ongoing Prague Chess Festival Masters 2026. While Van Foreest moved into a four-way tie for the first spot along with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nodirbek Yakubboev and David Navara with two points each, Gukesh finds himself among the bottom pack with one point from three matches.

The latest defeat to world No 30 has set alarm bells ringing for world champion Gukesh, who is ranked ninth in the official list but has slipped to 13th in the live ratings in a year in which he will defend his world crown.

Gukesh’s poor form raises concerns 

Known for his dogged resistance and insane calculation on the board, the 19-year-old Gukesh has been having a rather unimpressive 2026 after a poor 2025, where he did not win a single tournament. Earlier this year at the Tata Steel chess tournament, Gukesh finished ninth among 14 Grandmasters. He also suffered defeats against Anish Giri and Matthias Bluebaum in Wijk aan Zee, two players who will be competing in the upcoming FIDE Candidates 2026 to be a challenger for the Indian Grandmaster’s world title.

It’s high time Gukesh quickly rediscovered his form, else it will become extremely difficult for him to have the required confidence to defend his world crown.

On Friday in Prague, Gukesh played an erroneous game against Jorden van Foreest, but nothing can explain not pressing the clock hard enough after the 36th move. His blunder cost him valuable time as he lost 45 seconds after playing his move and the Dutch Van Foreest got the chance to plan his move on the world champion’s time.

How Van Foreest defeated Gukesh

Coming to the game, Gukesh made his biggest blunder on move 17 with the black pieces as he played Qb8 when Nd7 was the best move. But even more impressive was the rook sacrifice by Van Foreest for a knight on d4. This allowed the Dutch chess player to take full control of the match and soon went a pawn up.

After another blunder 35…Kd3, a defeat for Gukesh became inevitable, and he was forced to resign after 48 minutes – a first win over the world champion for Van Foreest.

Check moves from Gukesh vs Van Foreest game:

“Of course I’m super-happy. Not only is it my first win against a world champion, but also my first win against Gukesh. Even before he was world champion I played him a couple of times, but I never won against him and he won against me several times,” Van Foreest said.

While explaining his rook sacrifice, he said: “He was looking rather calm, and I was like, am I missing something? I didn’t see it, so I thought I had to go for it.”

“I’m up a pawn, there’s really no risk—in the worst case it’s a draw, and for him the defense will be always very difficult, even with best play, so I was happy,” said Van Foreest.