I am worried about losing very badly to Gukesh: Ding

Ding hasn't had a classical win since Wijk Aan Zee at the beginning of this year and he takes on Gukesh in the World Championship match later this month

- Susan Ninan

BENGALURU: Reigning world champion Ding Liren is "worried about losing badly" to 18-year-old challenger, D Gukesh from India in their title match later this month.

In a brutally forthright interview to Magnus Carlsen's TakeTakeTake app, recorded on the final day of the Olympiad in September, Ding called himself the clear underdog and expressed hope of summoning a different version of himself at the board for the match, one that is significantly better than what he's shown of late.

"Clearly, I'll be the underdog approaching this match... Gukesh is in top form...I hope I can become a totally different player and at least give him a fight to slow down his pace... to have some winning chances," said Ding.

Ding, who went unbeaten for 100 classical games between August 2017 and November 2018, hasn't had a win since Wijk Aan Zee at the beginning of this year. "This is the longest I have gone without a classical win... Maybe I'm not so eager to play...I don't have the same ambitions to win... I'm worried about losing very badly (to Gukesh), hopefully it won't happen."