India, Nov. 9 -- Last year, around this time, India's D Gukesh was challenging China's Ding Liren for the World Chess Championship title. A month later, on December 12, he was perched on top of the classical chess world, the youngest chess world champion ever. Accolades and victory parades followed, and Gukesh was tipped to take over the mantle from India's five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand. But as Gukesh eased back into competition, his strengths - the consistent high level of chess, dogged resistance, and the knack of coming up with the best possible moves under pressure - seem to be fading.

On Saturday, top seed Gukesh lost in the third round of the FIDE Chess World Cup in Goa to 21-year-old German Frederik Svane (2,640). His...