India, Aug. 21 -- D Gukesh is currently joint-second at the ongoing Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, with a score of 1.5. He shares the position with Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Sam Sevian. He also lost to R. Praggnanandhaa in the opening round.

He won the World Championship title last year in December, defeating Ding Liren in Singapore. Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing tournament, he said, "It [world championship] was something maybe I just wanted more than anybody else. More than anything else that I wanted in my life so far."

"I mean from my childhood I used to dream about it and I think I managed to make the most out of the opportunities that I got and that's all you can do."

The Indian GM revealed ...