D gukesh goes bald offers darshan to god drops ‘improve in all formats’ verdict after winless freestyle chess run

D gukesh goes bald offers darshan to god drops ‘improve in all formats’ verdict after winless freestyle chess run

Having become the youngest-ever World Chess Champion in history, D Gukesh visited the famous Tirumala Temple in Andhra Pradesh, with his family. The 18-year-old shaved his head as an offering to God after Darshan.

Gukesh defeated Ding Liren at the World Chess Championship in Singapore last year, and is also currently ranked third in the FIDE standings and is India No. 1.

During his visit. Gukesh also met reporters and revealed that he wanted to come to the temple after his victory in December last year. “I always wanted to come here after World Championship so I'm very happy and I had a very good darshan,”he said.

Gukesh came second in Wijk aan Zee at the Tata Masters, as he lost to R Praggnanandhaa in the tie-breaker round. Meanwhile, he endured a winless run at the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. His brilliant performances at the Tata Masters saw him climb to third position in the rankings, and now he is just behind Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura.

“I have to keep working hard. In 2025 there are a lot of important tournaments, so I’m focusing on that. I want to improve in all formats, and hopefully, at some point with God’s grace, good things will happen,” he said.

Recently Gukesh also opened up on the financial struggles faced by his parents, while attending India Today Conclave 2025. “I remember my parents’ friends sponsoring me to play tournaments abroad. It was quite difficult at that time, and we had a lot of help from very, very nice and selfless people. Now, the last year was financially very good for us,” he said.

“I think it means a lot to me that my parents don’t have to think about money anymore. We can lead a comfortable life, not struggle like before,” he added.