Grzegorz Gajewski on Coaching Gukesh D to Become the Youngest Ever World Chess Champion

"Ding blundered, and it looks like this might be over soon," were the words Grzegorz Gajewski, Gukesh D's coach, heard as he answered his fiancée’s phone call on his way to dinner. Instead of heading to the cafeteria, Gajewski rushed to the championship venue, where the atmosphere was already buzzing with excitement and disbelief. Just five minutes later, his student came out of the playing hall as the youngest world chess champion in history.

Photo by Maria Emelianova / FIDE

What truly fascinates about these championship games is the amount of work done behind the scenes by the teams that support players like Gukesh and Ding Liren. While the spotlight is on the players, the efforts of their teams — especially the head coach — cannot be overstated. Gajewski, as the main second and coach, played a pivotal role in assembling a well-balanced team and managing its work, which ultimately led to Gukesh’s massive success.

But how does one become a top-level coach or second? What qualities does one need to succeed in this highly demanding role? And what sets someone like Gajewski apart in a profession that requires so much more than just knowledge of the game? We had the chance to sit down with Grzegorz Gajewski himself to explore these questions.

Transitioning from Player to Second: "My opening ideas were too good for me to use them."

A former Polish champion and accomplished grandmaster with a peak rating of 2659, Grzegorz Gajewski had a solid playing career, representing Poland in several international team events, including the Chess Olympiad. However, he is perhaps best known for his expertise in chess openings, where he discovered novel ideas that earned him a reputation as an innovative theorist.

"Initially I was trying to make use of them myself, but the longer I tried, the more I came to realize that some of my ideas were just too good for me to use them. Because no matter what position I got after the opening, I would sooner or later mess it up somehow."

Gajewski’s first real experience as a second began with his collaboration with his countryman Radosław Wojtaszek, a top player from Poland who had been part of Anand’s team for many years. Their successful partnership eventually led to Gajewski being invited to join Anand's team for the 2014 World Chess Championship rematch against Carlsen.

"I did help them a little bit before that, especially before the match with Gelfand, I helped remotely. But that was more of a side job for me," Gajewski recalled. "Of course, Sochi was already the first big challenge. We all know the result, but I think we put up a good fight."

After the rematch, Anand invited Gajewski to assist him in several of his following tournaments, where Gajewski’s contributions proved valuable. This growing collaboration eventually led to Gajewski joining Anand’s team full-time. Recalling this crucial career period, Gajewski reflected on how he came to the decision to leave competitive play and focus entirely on coaching and seconding.

"Back then, I still had ambitions as a player. I was at around 2650, and I knew that if I worked hard, I had a shot for 2700… But, you know, the more I worked with Vishy and for Vishy, the less I could focus on my own game. So it was kind of a bargain that I accepted. Slowly, I made the conscious decision to let go just a little bit as a player and start working more as a coach. And then, of course, the better I became as a coach, the worse I would be as a player."

Photo by Maria Emelianova / FIDE

Relentlessness – The Key to Being a Great Second and Finding Opening Ideas

Gajewski’s success in discovering opening novelties began in the early days of chess engines. These early engine versions were not as powerful or infallible as the ones we use today. In fact, they were far from perfect, and Gajewski often found himself disagreeing with their "stupid" suggestions. His determination to challenge the engines and refute their analysis played a crucial role in the development of some of his best ideas.

“In ten cases, I’d mostly be wrong, but one or two times, I’d be right,” Gajewski reflected. “And those cases would usually reward me with some nice ideas. For me, the key was always to be relentless.”

While modern engines are now much more advanced, Gajewski believes that interesting moves can still be found outside of the engine’s top choices. However, this requires a different approach and mindset. Even though the game and its strategies change over time, the relentless pursuit of new ideas remains constant in his work.

The Difference in Approach Between Working with Anand and Gukesh

“The main difference for me is responsibility,” Gajewski highlighted when comparing his work with Anand to his role with Gukesh. “With Vishy, my role was mainly to provide new ideas and tools he could use in tournaments. With Gukesh, it's different. We talk a lot, discuss tournament strategies, work on training plans, and decide on the right training partners and seconds. There’s much more responsibility involved in helping a younger player like Gukesh.”

Despite his youth, however, Gukesh is widely regarded as a mature and well-rounded player. So first and foremost, Gajewski and his team trust Gukesh’s ability to outmaneuver his opponents through superior skill and calculation. That’s why their main goal is to ensure that he gets a playable position rather than a clear opening advantage. This strategy is one Gajewski admittedly borrowed from Magnus Carlsen’s team:

“In terms of openings, I think it's kind of obvious now that we're following Magnus' footsteps. Of course, with some changes because they’re completely different players. But the main approach remains similar. We want to get playable positions. We want to kick our opponents out of their preparation. And we don’t necessarily need to have an opening advantage.”

While this approach has proven effective time and again, it’s not without its risks. Even when Gukesh’s team manages to surprise their opponents, they sometimes find themselves in positions where it’s easy to make mistakes. This was the case a few times during the Championship match as well. “Almost in every game, we managed to surprise Ding, but not always did we end up celebrating the surprise,” Gajewski commented. Nevertheless, he remains confident in this approach, trusting in Gukesh’s talent to prevail in such situations.

Weak and Strong Sides of Ding Liren and Gukesh D: "All World Champions Rise to the Occasion"

Leading up to the World Championship, many believed that Gukesh, with his youthful energy and aggressive play, would easily dominate Ding Liren, who hadn’t been in top form for the past few years. However, Gajewski knew better.

“I was almost sure this wasn’t going to be the case because Ding was a world champion,” Gajewski said during our interview. “Even though he was going through a tough time, all champions rise to the occasion. I was confident he would give his best for the match.”

Gukesh and Ding had met before the Championship, with their first two encounters ending similarly to the opening game of the Championship, where Gukesh suffered a heavy defeat with the white pieces. Gajewski noted that these losses were enough for both Gukesh and the team to recognize the level of player they were up against and how prepared they needed to be, both mentally and chess-wise.

Photo by Maria Emelianova / FIDE

And they were right to be cautious. Although Ding’s confidence had wavered in recent years, he was still in surprisingly good form for the match. Gajewski pointed out that the quality of Ding’s moves, especially under time pressure, was highly impressive.

“Ding would initially see the best path for himself, but then start having doubts, which led him to make inferior moves,” Gajewski explained, reflecting on Ding’s comments during press conferences. “And when he didn’t have enough time to have those doubts, he played at his best.”

While Ding struggled with his lack of confidence and seemed to avoid open confrontations, Gukesh was fully prepared to embrace them. His relentless eagerness to take risks and play ambitiously ultimately brought him the world title. However, he still had his setbacks, which might have been attributed to him misevaluating his chances and position from time to time, an aspect of the game Gajewski acknowledged can be further improved:

“Gukesh, like everyone else, sometimes misevaluates positions, but in general, he tries to be objective. At least this is what we're working on and it's very important to play ambitiously but at the same time remain objective. You can’t let ambition cloud your judgment.”

Gajewski’s Advice on How to Prepare Against Young Prodigies

With their exceptional calculation skills, hard work, and youthful energy, young chess prodigies like Gukesh, Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa, and Firouzja are making waves in the chess world. Their success in major tournaments shows that they are formidable opponents for any player. Given their rise, we turned to the coach of the most ferocious of these young stars for advice on how older players can prepare to face rising stars.

“One area younger players need to catch up on is historical knowledge,” Gajewski suggested. “There are many lines that they don’t even know existed. These lines were effectively killed off by engines, but back in the day, they were played hundreds of times. By studying these old games, you can gain a deeper understanding of specific structures.”

While it’s not the younger players’ fault that these lines are no longer in modern circulation, Gajewski believes that the lack of exposure to these “dinosaurs” of opening theory could be an area that older players can exploit.

What Gukesh Needs to Work on to Improve Further: "He Can Only Get Better From This Moment On."

While Gukesh’s victory at the World Championship solidified his status as an absolute master of the game, it is important to remember that the young Indian star is only 18 years old and can still improve greatly. As his coach and second, Gajewski is deeply aware of the areas where the young world champion can continue to grow:

“There are many areas Gukesh needs to improve, like prophylactic thinking and positional evaluation which we have already discussed. Well, in some positions, he’s very good, there are just certain kinds of positions that he still needs to improve. Time management is also something we’re trying to improve. The main thing is not to make drastic changes — he like to take his time and when he uses it wisely, he can play at a very high level. So we're talking about minor changes here, just to avoid severe time troubles. Of course there’s also room for improving his opening knowledge because there are just so many of them. The same goes for endgames. There are many things to work on and it's great, right? He's young and he can only get better from this moment on.”

Photo by Maria Emelianova / FIDE

This interview was conducted by Chessify, and if you enjoy this type of content that gives a firsthand look into the minds of chess greats, make sure to check out similar blogs with the 2024 European world champion Aleksandar Indjic, Praggnandhaa as well as his sister Vaishali Rameshbabu.