World No. 3 Fabiano Caruana has made a daring assertion about 19-year-old world champion Gukesh and different Indian Grandmasters, calling them “not scary whatsoever” after the Norway Chess match.“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 stated 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 just lately concluded Norway Chess match, Caruana defeated Gukesh on the ultimate day, crushing the Indian teenager’s hopes of profitable the title.
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Caruana later defined that regardless of Indian prodigies like Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi performing nicely just lately, a shift within the international chess hierarchy is unlikely within the close to future because the Indians haven’t but 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 stated.Magnus Carlsen went on to win his seventh title in Stavanger, whereas Caruana pipped Gukesh to second place. Hikaru Nakamura completed fourth, forward of Arjun Erigaisi.