As the world championship battle between India’s Gukesh and China’s Ding Liren approaches, there is a general consensus building in the world of chess. It installs an 18-year-old, first-time challenger for the crown as the favourite and the reigning world champion as the underdog. It’s a rare equation in the sport, where men occupying the throne are usually thought to be better prepared than upstarts walking into their first duel.

Ding Liren himself has almost gone out of his way to talk down his chances. “I’m worried about losing very badly. Hopefully, it won’t happen… Gukesh has been in top form recently. I hope I can become a totally different player (by the world championship). At least to fight, to slow down his pace, to have some winning chances,” the Chinese world champion told Take Take Take after the Chess Olympiad.

Such has been the drift of form for both Gukesh and Ding Liren in the past year, that there is a sense that the sport is preparing itself for the coronation of the 18th world champion.

But for 18-year-old Gukesh this is all just noise.

“A lot of very important players have read something into Ding’s form. There’s no doubt that a year of bad form before an important match does matter. It does show something. But I think for Gukesh, this is noise at the moment. You don’t know if this form will continue or if Ding Liren will break out of it. Ding is a strong player anyway, even Ding in bad form!” five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who is a mentor to Gukesh, told The Indian Express recently.

In the lead-up to the world championship, Gukesh and his team have thought out of the box. Gukesh worked with renowned mind coach Paddy Upton for half a year. Upton’s resume includes working with the Indian cricket team when they won the 2011 World Cup and the Indian hockey team as they claimed bronze at the Paris Olympics.

Upton revealed that with the 18-year-old, both he and Gukesh’s long-time trainer Grzegorz Gajewski emphasised keeping Gukesh on his toes and not thinking the battle with Ding Liren would be a walkover.

“We spoke about underestimating versus over-respecting your opponent. Gukesh is very well aware of what some of the narrative is out there around Ding’s form. But, you know, at the end of the road, the reality is there’s every chance that in this last month’s lead up Ding finds his mojo, finds his game, finds his sweet spot. Gukesh is preparing to meet the best version of Ding that has ever been around. We (Gajewski and Upton) were very clear that we are preparing him to meet an on-form Ding,” Paddy Upton had told The Indian Express.

To meet the “on-form Ding” one must travel back in time, not to last year’s world championship battle against Ian Nepomniachtchi which Ding won, but to the heady days of 2017 and 2018 when the Chinese grandmaster went on a tear, going 100 games unbeaten in classical format. It was also during this phase that the soft-spoken Ding broke into the 2800 rating club, reaching a peak rating of 2816. It’s possible that this version of Ding still haunts memories of Grandmasters, who remember his dogged daredevilry.

During that run, Ding Liren played in some of the biggest tournaments like the FIDE World Cup, the Candidates, and the Olympiad. At the World Cup, he reached all the way to the final before losing to Levon Aronian in the shorter time control tiebreaks. On his way to the final, he earned a rep for pulling rabbits out of the hat — novelties on the board that broke away from the tried and tested lines that would catch opponents like Wesley So off guard. It was also at the 2017 World Cup that Ding played a masterclass against compatriot Wang Hao.

That phase also saw Ding Liren play in the Candidates for the first time (Berlin 2018), where he posted a different kind of record: he drew 13 of the 14 games while winning one. In short, he went unbeaten in a tournament where only finishing first mattered while playing against a cut-throat field.

Ding Liren’s streak was briefly halted when he suffered a bike accident on a rest day while at Norway Chess. But he recovered and picked up from where he had started. In fact, chess folklore remembers Ding as the player who almost defeated Magnus Carlsen in a European Club Cup game in October 2018, a result which could have dethroned Carlsen as the world no 1, a spot the Norwegian had occupied for over six years at that point.

And like Gukesh’s exploits at this year’s Olympiad, Ding also led the Chinese team to the 2018 Olympiad title while claiming an individual gold on the top board.

Of course, form on the chessboard cannot be switched on with the flick of a switch. But another reason why many grandmasters have not yet called this race in Gukesh’s favour already is the fact that Ding has already experienced the intensity of playing in a world championship. And survived! What adds weight to his claim is the fact that Ding was “depressed and shaky” — the words he used to describe his mental state during the 2023 world championship — and yet emerged victorious while playing far from his best chess.

Anand, who has experienced the heat of the world championship cauldron, added a note of caution for his ward.

“Gukesh should go there and play the best move. If this constant focus on Ding’s previous form lowers his guard even slightly, he’s strong enough to punish you.”