Grzegorz Gajewski, the coach of D Gukesh, warned not to undermine China’s Ding Liren. While he is confident about the epic World Chess Championship showdown against D Gukesh and China's Ding Liren in Singapore, he seemed cautious. 

Gajewski dismissed talk of the Indian Grandmaster being the showdown favourite as "noise.”

“We just want to be at our best. All this talk of favorites and predictions is just noise," added the 39-year-old.

The Polish GM emphasised that Ding should not be underestimated, despite his poor year. Gajewski recalled his own defeat to Ding at the 2014 Chess Olympiad. He also noted that Ding, an underdog against Ian Nepomniachtchi last year, still won.

While speaking to Hindustan Times, "That loss was a nice lesson for me, fortunately a short one. So, I know how well Ding can play, and he's definitely not someone you should underestimate... Even during his World Championship match against Ian Nepomniachtchi, he was supposedly out of shape but still won.” 

Gajewski noted that Gukesh, who won the Candidates Tournament in April and played a key role in India’s Chess Olympiad success in September, has a clear plan and mindset for his "super difficult" match against Ding. 

"Gukesh’s mindset is clear," Gajewski said. "He wants to win. Even in the Candidates, where he wasn’t the favorite, he was focused on winning.”

Gajewski emphasized that they have a well-defined plan for the match against Ding. "I believe that it's going to be super difficult and challenging because we have never played a match before," he said.

Gajewski, who served as second to Viswanathan Anand during his 2014 World Championship match against current No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, acknowledged the unique challenge ahead.

Ding recently acknowledged his poor 2024 run, having not won a classical game since January. He admitted feeling like an underdog against Gukesh and expressed concern about losing his world championship title to the 18-year-old Indian GM, the youngest challenger.