Cricket, Hockey and now Chess: How Paddy Upton guided D Gukesh to World Championship title

India is growing as a sporting nation. A country rich in accolades in hockey and cricket worldwide is slowly carving its way into becoming a powerhouse in Chess. Though the fans know who the kings and their prodigies are, not many know about the kingmakers. Meet Paddy Upton, the former Indian Men’s Cricket and Hockey Team's mental coach, who guided D Gukesh to creating history at the just-concluded World Chess Championship.

Upton is known to shape sporting champions, and with Gukesh’s history-making feat, where he became the youngest World Chess Champion on Thursday, he upgraded his already impressive-looking resume.

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Upton was the Indian Cricket Team’s mental conditioning coach during the 2011 World Cup, which they lifted for the first time in 28 years, while he held the same position with the Men’s Hockey Team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, helping them end their trophy drought with a historic bronze. Three years later, he succeeded in guiding another sports star in a game (Chess) he wasn’t aware of much.

However, despite all odds, he took the challenge and helped the 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster to accomplish his dream of becoming the youngest world chess champion.

Gukesh stands tall

At the level he was competing at, D Gukesh needed to be consistent with what he was doing without trying too hard to do something else for the win, and this is where Paddy came into the picture.

"One of the biggest mistakes newcomers make at big events is thinking they need to do something special. The key is consistency – doing what you’ve been doing really well, one move at a time,” Paddy Upton said in a chat with Chess24.

Meanwhile, competing against the defending champion Ding Liren in the 14th round, Gukesh kept his composure and was persistent and focused, and owing to Ding’s blunder, he prevailed, creating history.

Soon after claiming the top spot, Gukesh revealed his team of seconds (professional players who assist others), giving a special mention to Upton and emphasising his role in helping Gukesh stand tall.

"Paddy has been a huge, huge support for me in the last six months. Although he is not part of my chess team, he has been a very, very important person in this journey. One of the critical aspects we worked on was managing the uncertainty around my opponent’s form and approach. Paddy doesn’t understand chess deeply, but he understands sport and the psychology behind it," Gukesh said of Paddy’s role in helping him scale new heights in chess.

The newly crowned champion also acknowledged Paddy’s achievements elsewhere.

"It’s really cool that Paddy helped India win the 2011 World Cup. Thirteen years later, he has helped India win the Chess Championship,” Gukesh noted.

Gukesh and Upton collaborated midway into this year, with Sandeep Singhal, co-founder of the WestBridge-Anand Chess Academy (WACA), introducing them to each other.

Although Gukesh’s team has masters of their crafts, the WACA recognised the need for a mental conditioning expert, which eventually changed the tournament’s landscape.

(With inputs from agencies)