The Indian teen who became the world’s youngest chess champion

The Indian teen who became the world’s youngest chess champion

Gukesh Dommaraju, an 18-year-old Indian youngster, stunned the chess community on Thursday by becoming the youngest world champion.

The prodigy from Chennai, who had entered the tournament as the challenger, won a thrilling match in Singapore against China’s Ding Liren, the reigning champion. The prize pool for the FIDE World Chess Championship is $2.5 million (£1.96 million).

It was his best moment in a long line of accomplishments and the pinnacle of his career to date.

At the age of twelve years and seven months, Gukesh rose to the rank of grandmaster and was open about his desire to win the world championship.

He claimed to have had such aspirations since he was seven years old when he saw Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen compete for the World Title in 2013.

He simply didn’t anticipate it happening so quickly, he admitted during the press conference after his thrilling victory over Ding.

“I had multiple opportunities to win the game, and I would have been in the lead in many of the games.” However, as I got closer, I started to feel anxious and couldn’t finish him off,” Gukesh told the BBC following the victory.

“…And then all of a sudden…it was a sudden change and I could not process all the new information so quickly.”

Since Wilhelm Steinitz won what is regarded as the first title match back in 1886, Gukesh has become the 18th world champion.

Gukesh, who was born in May 2006, is also the youngest player to reach this level.

He easily surpassed the previous record set by Garry Kasparov (born April 1963), who defeated Anatoly Karpov to win the title in Moscow in November 1985 at the age of 22.

After 13 games, the 14-game match was level with two victories apiece. The 14th game appeared to be headed for a draw.

In that case, there would have been tiebreaks played at progressively shorter time controls.

But Ding blundered on move 55 and Gukesh exploited the error to clinch the title.

The young player’s remarkable accomplishments over the past three years have culminated in this victory.

Gukesh took home the gold medal for best individual performance at the previous two Olympiads. In 2022, he guided India to a bronze team in Chennai, and in 2024, he won the gold medal in Budapest.

Additionally, he won the Candidates competition, which qualified him to face Ding Liren.

Gukesh’s guru, the former world champion Viswanathan Anand, or “Vishy Sir” as Gukesh calls him, disqualified him from competing earlier in his teens. Gukesh, in his opinion, just lacked sufficient experience.

In fact, Gukesh lost in the middle of the match, which seemed disastrous, but he got back up to win the next round and win the title.

Gukesh won game three after losing the opening game in the championship match. He then seized the lead in game eleven, while Ding won game twelve to tie the score.

With the title and a prize fund on the line, Game 14 was undoubtedly high-stress, but the teenager maintained composure.

This is not the romantic tale of a lone ranger shocking the world, despite Gukesh’s clear amazing aptitude. One of the best, if not the best, chess ecosystems in the world is centered around the Chennai GM.

In addition, Gukesh has received a lot of support from his parents, his school, and the Indian chess community.

Many of the more than 85 grandmasters in India are not yet of driving age.

Indian teams have recently achieved success, taking home the Women’s gold at the most recent Olympiad in Budapest as well as the Open Gold, where Gukesh was on the top board.

Since many Indians participate in officially sanctioned events, those grandmasters are at the top of a pyramid that has nearly 30,000 ranked players.

Since he was about ten years old, Gukesh has played professionally. Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world champion, serves as his guru.

Westbridge Capital, his sponsor, funds the Westbridge Anand Chess Academy, a top coaching facility that Anand owns.

Gukesh’s mother, Padma, is a microbiologist, while his father, Rajinikanth, is a surgeon. Both of them are medical professionals. To support their son, both put their professions on hold.

“As with other board games, at first I only watched my family members play chess at home as a pastime. However, once I developed an interest in the game, I enrolled in a chess summer camp at my school, where one of the coaches saw my potential,” Gukesh said.

In addition to using their own money to assist their kid, Gukesh’s parents urged friends to help crowd-fund his career until it took off because chess becomes an expensive game when a youngster must travel overseas for several months of the year.

Crucially, his school, Velammal Vidyalaya in Mogappair, also supported him and permitted him to take time off.

In addition to playing chess, Gukesh enjoys playing tennis, swimming, and meditation.

His declared objectives are straightforward: he wants to surpass Magnus Carlsen, the current world chess champion, and become the top player in the world.

He also wants to have a “very long career at the top”. As he sees it, the title is only one step, albeit a very important one in that life journey.