Gutsy Gukesh realises childhood dream; becomes youngest world chess champion

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh on Thursday became the youngest world chess champion at 18 years after beating title-holder Ding Liren in the last game of a nerve-wracking showdown to herald a new era of dominance by the country's chess players.

Taking forward the incredible legacy of the great Viswanathan Anand, Gukesh became only the second Indian to clinch the coveted prize after the iconic player, who owned the crown five times in his career.

After settling into "semi-retirement", the 55-year-old Anand, incidentally, played a pivotal role in shaping Gukesh at his chess academy in Chennai.

Gukesh secured the requisite 7.5 points as against 6.5 of his Chinese rival after winning the 14th and last classical time control game of the match that seemed headed for a draw for most part. As winner, he will walk away with a whopping USD 1.3 million (approx Rs 11.03 crore) from the 2.5 million prize purse.

"I was dreaming this moment for the last 10 years. I am happy that I realised the dream (and made it) into reality," the soft-spoken Chennai-lad told reporters after the historic triumph here.

The triumph was expectedly hailed across India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing it as "historic and exemplary".

Historic and exemplary!

Congratulations to Gukesh D on his remarkable accomplishment. This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination.

His triumph has not only etched his name in the annals of chess history but has also inspired millions… https://t.co/fOqqPZLQlr pic.twitter.com/Xa1kPaiHdg

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 12, 2024

"This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination," Modi posted on X.

The reticent teenager grinned widely and raised his arms in celebration after the victory, a stark contrast from the poker face he usually sports while playing. Once the feeling settled in, a tear or two also escaped his eyes, showing a rare moment of vulnerability.

"I got a bit emotional because I was not expecting to win," he added.

Even on Thursday, when the analysts had proclaimed that the match, in all likelihood, would go into a tie-breaker, Gukesh's face hardly gave anything away as he gained the upper-hand.

It was a momentary lapse of concentration by Liren in what seemed a drawn endgame and as it happened, the entire chess world was left in a state of shock.

The players were just left with a rook and a bishop and Gukesh had two pawns against one trying to make a foray without much success.

However, the ability to keep pushing for more gave Gukesh a distinct advantage over the Chinese and the latter simply collapsed to give the title to Gukesh.

Before Gukesh's feat on Thursday, the legendary Garry Kasparov of Russia was the youngest world champion when he won the title at the age of 22, dethroning Anatoly Karpov in 1985.

Gukesh had entered the match as the youngest ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier this year.

"Every chess player wants to live this dream. I am living my dream," said Gukesh.

Gukesh, who won the 14th game against Liren after 58 moves in four hours, is the 18th world chess champion overall.

If Thursday's game was also drawn, winner was to be decided in shorter duration tie-breaks on Friday.

Gukesh had won the third and 11th rounds before Thursday's decisive game, while the 32-year-old Liren emerged victorious in the opening and 12th games.

All other games were drawn in the match.

"I came here suddenly and I lost the first game itself. Luckily while going back I had Vishy Sir (Anand) in the lift and he said 'I had only 11 games left you have 13'," Gukesh recalled, while shining a light on the contribution of his mentor.

Anand was citing his 2006 first match over Veselin Topalov that he had eventually won after losing the first game.

Interestingly, Anand had won that match in the last Classical (12th) game, with black pieces. Anand lost the title to Norwegian maverick Magnus Carlsen back in 2013.

It was on the 55th move that the dye was cast.

Liren, leaving his sense of danger, went for a rook trade and Gukesh pawed him almost instantly. He knew that it was his title to lose and it took just three more moves before the Chinese called it a day.

Indian chess players have been on a roll this year, winning the Olympiad gold in both the men's and women's events, for the first time among other achievements.