About six months back, when Paddy Upton was approached to coach an Indian athlete for his first appearance at a World Championship, the South African mind guru was not sure what to make of the offer. In the past, Upton helped the Indian cricket team claim the 2011 World Cup and the Indian men’s hockey team seal a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
But this offer was different: it was a chance to help D Gukesh become the youngest-ever world chess champion at the age of 18. Paddy Upton has worked with athletes from 19 different sports, but rarely with someone this young, that too a chess player, on a one-on-one basis – which explains his initial hesitation.
“I wasn’t sure about working with him initially because I tend to not work with people who are too young. They haven’t really matured or evolved. But Gukesh has just been an absolute blessing and a gift to work with. He is super-intelligent. We’re able to have amazingly detailed and deeply complex conversations,”…
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