Gukesh Dommaraju beat defending champion Ding Liren on Thursday to become the youngest world chess champion at the age of eighteen. The teenager, with a FIDE rating of more than 2750, is the second person from India after Vishwanathan Anand to be crowned as World Chess Champion.
The young chess prodigy has many achievements to his name. At the age of 17, he became the youngest chess player to surpass a FIDE rating of 2750, and when he was 12 years old he earned the title of Grandmaster becoming the third youngest in the world to do so. His achievements also include medal-winning performances at competitions like the Chess Olympiad, World Youth Championship, and more.
He was born to Rajinikanth and Padma in 2006 and hails from Chennai, India. According to Hindustan Times, his father Rajinikanth was an ENT doctor who quit his job to accompany his son to different parts of the world for competitions while his mother, a microbiologist, became the sole bread-earner of the family.
Gukesh Dommaraju, at a press conference after his win at the World Chess Championship, said that he wanted to become the world champion ever since he watched the match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand in the 2013 World Championship and wanted to bring the title back to India.
The International Chess Federation tweeted his words on their official X page,
"When Magnus won, I thought I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India."
Before Gukesh, the title of the youngest world champion was held by Garry Kasparov, when he emerged victorious against Anatoly Karpov in 1985 at the age of 22 years and 210 days.
Gukesh's win against Ding Liren to become the 18th World Champion
According to the Guardian, on December 12, 2024, Gukesh and Ding Liren played the 14th marathon game. The game reportedly started in Ding Liren's favor, who was playing with white pieces, but Gukesh, who was playing with black pieces, was able to stabilize the game.
The game, which may have lasted five hours or so, was predicted to end in a draw. But in a shocking turn, Ding Liren made a blunder move (move 55) and the game ended with Gukesh's victory after four hours. Speaking at a press conference held after the game Ding said,
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"I was totally in shock when I realized I had made a blunder. His facial expression told me that he was very happy and very excited. That’s when I realized I had made a blunder. It took me some time to realize it(...) I could have done better, but considering my lucky escape in yesterday’s game, it’s fair that I lost in the end. I have no regrets."
Gukesh, who has also trained under Vishwanathan Anand, was congratulated by many including Anand, Indian PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi, etc.
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