World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana has made a bold statement about 19-year-old world champion Gukesh and other Indian Grandmasters, calling them “not scary whatsoever” after the Norway Chess tournament.“These Indian players are very strong. I think we’ll be competing on more or less equal terms for a while. But I don’t find them scary yet. Whatsoever!” Caruana said on his C-Squared podcast.“When I play, for example, Arjun or Gukesh, I do get this feeling — not just based on this Norway Chess tournament, but across many events — that I can really outplay them 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, it then comes down to other factors. This is my honest opinion.“It’s not about playing them down. They can definitely outperform me in various ways. But my feeling is that in a long match, while they’re great fighters, they also give a lot of chances. And for them, it can be frustrating to play against someone who gives very few.”At the recently concluded Norway Chess tournament, Caruana defeated Gukesh on the final day, crushing the Indian teenager’s hopes of winning the title.
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Caruana later explained that despite Indian prodigies like Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi performing well recently, a shift in the global chess hierarchy is unlikely in the near future as the Indians have not yet reached their full potential.“If Levon Aronian, who is 10 years older than me, is competing on equal terms with these young guys — or Hikaru, who is five years older, and still appears stronger than most of them — then why assume they’ll take over soon? Especially when Magnus is clearly stronger than all of them,” he said.Magnus Carlsen went on to win his seventh title in Stavanger, while Caruana pipped Gukesh to second place. Hikaru Nakamura finished fourth, ahead of Arjun Erigaisi.
