Grandmasters Pravin Thipsay and Abhijit Kunte believe Indian GM D Gukesh, whose game bears a "resemblance" to legendary Russian Anatoly Karpov, will win the upcoming FIDE World Championship contest by the 12th round against his Chinese opponent Liren Ding in Singapore later this month.
Ding will face a stern challenge from the 18-year-old Gukesh, who "doesn't make any mistakes at all" and has had a terrific run in 2024.
Gukesh became the youngest champion in the history of the Candidates Tournament and also helped India win the gold medal in the 45th Chess Olympiad.
On the other hand, Ding hasn't won a game in the Classical format this year.
"Gukesh is a player who doesn't make any mistakes at all," Thipsay said during a symposium organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai here at the MIG Cricket Club.
"Sometimes the accuracy level is so great that he doesn't make a mistake unless he has got fatigue or something," he added.
"We will not see a 12th game," he said.
Kunte said, "I think Gukesh will win by round 12."
Thipsay said even though the contest is between a 32-year-old Chinese player against an 18-year-old Indian, the maturity levels are very different.
"One is a young boy of 18 (against) somebody who is matured at the age of 32. We would presume him to be mature," he said.
"But if you look at the personality, the character, the strength of the person, I would say that Ding is like a child and Gukesh is like a grown up person."
"Because after the fourth game we saw Ding started crying in the world championship match. He played the worst game probably. But he came out with a reaction that it was the worst game in his lifetime."
"There is Gukesh, there is so much strength of the character — 'Okay, if I do it badly now, I will do it better tomorrow'. Very much like (Anatoly) Karpov had.
"Even if you look at the styles of the players, Gukesh's style resembles very much Karpov's."
Thipsay said Gukesh, like the legendary Russian, wants to leave everything to "open imagination".
"They want to leave everything to open imagination. They don't want to win the game by theoretical novelties. They just play 'okay, I get an equal position and I beat my opponent'," he said.
Kunte heaped praise on Gukesh's work ethics, saying whatever he does in life is directed towards improving his game.
"The striking difference I find between Gukesh and other players is, like there are few players who work on their chess and then do other things. But whatever Gukesh does is actually to help him in chess," he said.
"So like if he is resting, it is also because he needs a rest to improve his chess. If he is reading, he is reading because it will help him to improve his chess. Whatever he does, it finally focuses on how he is improving his chess."
Kunte credited Gukesh's parents and coaches for creating an environment for him to succeed.
"His parents and coaches have made sure that he gets that surrounding, he gets that atmosphere all the time," he said.
"He is perfect within his limits, he knows what he is doing and he doesn't allow anyone else to come near that. That kind of isolation, that kind of commitment towards the game of chess is very rare," Kunte added.
Thipsay said the upcoming contest may not witness book novelties.
"Ding is a complete player. Gukesh is (also) a complete player who tries to find a solution over-the-board. We are not going to see any book novelties or any great preparation, it's going to be a over-the-board battle," he said.
"Very often we'll see new moves being played without players knowing why they are played. I mean not objectively with a complete, concrete analysis, but an entirely original match. This match will be more original than perhaps any other match," he added.
Kunte said Ding, with his battle against depression, is not the same player anymore.
"We have like Ding (in) era one and Ding (in) era two. Right now he is in Ding two (in) which (he) is not very strong. But if you see Ding one, it was very difficult to beat him," he said.
"He became a national champion. He won the gold medal for China in Olympiad and made sure China wins the Olympic gold."
"(The) same thing Gukesh has done this year. I will say that Gukesh is in the same form which Ding was way back and definitely he is a clear favourite right now.
"It is just because of medical issues, this is the situation. If he can overcome that, it is not easy to beat him," he added.
