World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju: India's reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju has withdrawn from the remaining events of the ongoing 2026 Grand Chess Tour but will participate in the Rapid & Blitz tournaments in Warsaw and Zagreb as a wildcard player. Gukesh has decided to withdraw from the event to recover from recent poor results.
The Grand Chess Tour (GCT) on Tuesday announced an update to the 2026 full Tour lineup at Saint Louis in the USA.
In a statement, Gukesh shared: "My performance in the last few events has been quite disappointing, not just for me, but for all of you who support me. In order to find my best form, my team and I have decided that I should compete with slightly less intensity over the next few months. Consequently, we feel it is in my best interest to skip long events away from home to allow for more dedicated training time.
