Gukesh Dommaraju Becomes Youngest World Chess Champion at 18

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh on Thursday became the youngest world chess champion at 18 after he defeated defending champion Ding Liren of China in a thrilling 14th and final game of a topsy-turvy title clash. His win will usher in a new era of dominance for the country’s chess players and carry forward the unrivaled legacy of the great Viswanathan Anand.

Gukesh is the second Indian to win the title after Anand, who won the prestigious title five times in his career. Incidentally, 55-year-old Anand played a key role in grooming Gukesh at his chess academy in Chennai.

Gukesh won the last classical game of the 14-game match to secure the required 7.5 points while Liren had 6.5 points. The game, however, looked headed for a draw most of the time. Gukesh received $1.3 million out of the $2.5 million prize money for winning the title. After registering a historic win here, Chennai’s Gukesh told reporters, “I was dreaming of this moment for the last 10 years. I am happy that I turned this dream into reality.” He said, “I got a little emotional because I did not expect to win. But then I got a chance to move forward.” After the victory, a big smile could be seen on the face of the reticent teenager Gukesh and he raised his arms in celebration. On Thursday too, analysts had predicted the match to go into a tiebreaker, but Gukesh was gradually strengthening his position. It was a momentary lapse in Liren’s concentration that resulted in the game heading towards a draw and when this happened, the entire chess world was shocked. The players were left with just one rook and one bishop, which they lost to each other. In the end, Liren had only one pawn left as compared to Gukesh’s two pawns and the Chinese player accepted defeat and put the title in the bag of the Indian player. Liren made a mistake in the 55th move when he swapped his pawns and Gukesh immediately took advantage of it and the match was over in the next three games.

Before Gukesh’s title win on Thursday, Russian legend Garry Kasparov was the youngest world chess champion who won the title at the age of 22 by defeating Anatoly Karpov in 1985. Gukesh became the youngest player to challenge for the world title after winning the Candidates Tournament earlier this year. He is the second Indian to win a global title after the legendary Vishwanathan Anand. Five-time world champion Anand lost the world title to Magnus Carlsen in 2013.

Gukesh said, “Every chess player wants to live this dream. I am living my dream.” Gukesh won the 14th game against Liren after 58 moves in four hours and became the 18th world chess champion overall. Had Thursday’s game also ended in a draw, the winner would have been decided in a shorter tie-break on Friday.

Gukesh had won the third and 11th rounds before the deciding game on Thursday, while 32-year-old Liren won the opening game as well as the 12th game. All other games were draws.