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Caruana revealed that despite the incredible talent Indian GMs D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi boast, he isn’t nervous about a change of guard in the world of chess just yet.
Fabiano Caruana. (X)
American GM Fabiano Caruana, who stands fourth in the FIDE rankings, splitting Indian GMs D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi, opined that despite the incredible talent the youngsters boast, he wasn’t nervous about a change of guard in the world of chess just yet.
The recently concluded Norway Chess 2025 seemed as a battle of generations, with seasoned veterans and young promises went head to head.
“These Indians players are very strong. I think that we’ll be competing on more or less equal terms for a while,” Caruana began.
“But I don’t find them scary yet. Whatsoever,” he added.
Caruana cited the examples of Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura to better explain his perspective on the threat posed by the up and coming generation of player.
“If Levon Aronian is 10 years older than me and he’s competing on completely equal terms with these young guys,” the 32-year-old said.
“Or Hikaru, who’s five years older than me, and it feels like he’s still a stronger player than these young guys for the most part,” he continued.
“Then why would there be this theory that they’re going to take over anytime soon,” he elucidated.
“Especially if you consider that Magnus is, I would say, clearly stronger than them,” he opined.
Caruana also touched upon the gulf in difference bewteen the senior pack and the juniors citing the possibility of his being able to outplay the next generation player while withstanding the converse of the same.
“When I play for example Arjun or Gukesh, I do get this feeling — not just based on this Norway Chess tournament, but on many tournaments — that I can really outplay them very significantly and get a lot of winning chances. I don’t think they can outplay me in the same way. Although they will get winning chances and then it’s about some other factors,” he explained.
“Really this is my honest opinion. It’s not me trying to play them down or anything. I’m not doing that. They can definitely outperform me in various ways. But my feeling is that if it’s a long match, they’re great fighters, but they also give a lot of chances and for them it can be very frustrating to play against someone who doesn’t give many chances,” Caruna added.
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