Gukesh tonsures head as offering at Tirupati, says must work harder to close gap with Carlsen

World Chess Champion D Gukesh had his head tonsured as an offering to God after darshan at the famous Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati.

Gukesh, a devout Hindu, said he was hopeful of greater things this year with God's blessings. "I always wanted to come here after World Championship so I'm very happy and I had a very good darshan," Gukesh was quoted by Daily Culture YouTube channel.

The 18-year-old from Chennai was crowned the 18th World Chess Champion in Singapore last December following a thrilling 14-game battle with Ding Liren of China.

He climbed to the third position in FIDE world rankings behind World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura of the US. When asked about how he plans to push further up in the rankings, Gukesh replied: "I have to work a lot harder for that."

Gukesh had some exciting performances in the New Year, but failed to win another title. He lost the final of Tata Steel Masters to compatriort R Praggnanandhaa at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands in early February.

Gukesh could not do well in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour opener at Weissenhaus, Germany, that followed. Gukesh lost to Carlsen in their first meeting since the world championship.

"There are a lot of important tournaments in 2025, so I'm focussing on that. I want to improve in all formats, and hopefully, with God's grace, good things will happen," Gukesh said.