World champion D Gukesh is crumbling under the weight of expectations and needs to shut out the noise to regain his form ahead of his title defence, said American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura.Gukesh has faced a slump since his historic 2024 World Championship win, dropping down in ratings after finishing last at both Norway Chess and a recent event in Chennai, alongside low finishes at the Tata Steel Chess and Prague Masters."I don't know what Gukesh can do differently. I know what he should have done differently, which is to basically be willing to take draws in a lot of games instead of trying to play for the win," Nakamura said. "But obviously, I'm not Indian. So, I don't necessarily understand the culture, all the pressure that he's facing. But I get the general sense that there's a lot of pressure whether it's external, whether it's internal. I think he's crumbling because of it."I think if he can block it all out, forget that he's world champion. You know, this is obviously quotable. But sort of forget that he's never going to be Magnus Carlsen. I'm quite confident his rating will go back up."Gukesh's classical FIDE rating dropped to 2703 in the August 2026 list. "I don't know if it'll go to 2,800. But I mean, he'll definitely get to, like, 2,740 at least if he kind of just puts a couple of things out of his mind. But obviously, it's very hard," Nakamura continued."I mean, he's one of the world champions. And you're not the best player. And everyone's comparing you to probably the greatest player of all time. And it's very difficult mentally."Nakamura, however, does not believe Gukesh's upcoming title defence against Uzbek challenger Javokhir Sindarov is a foregone conclusion despite considering him the underdog."Even though I think, Gukesh…
This report has been adapted by the PurePlay Sports Desk from coverage by The Hindu Sportstar, The Bridge.