Indian teen becomes youngest world chess champion

Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju, just 18 years old, made history by becoming the youngest world chess champion. He defeated the defending champion, China’s Ding Liren, in an intense match on Thursday.

This makes him four years younger than the previous record-holder, Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov, who won the title at 22 in 1985.

Gukesh, a chess prodigy from Chennai, became a grandmaster at the age of 12 and has been a star ever since. However, many thought he was an underdog in the final round of the FIDE World Chess Championship held in Singapore.

Playing as black, Gukesh Dommaraju won after Ding, who had been in a strong position, made a critical mistake and lost his last powerful piece. This error handed the victory to Gukesh, who was ranked fifth in the world and second in India at the time.

The 14-game World Chess Championship had been a closely followed event over two weeks. Before the final game, Gukesh and Ding had tied with eight draws and two wins each. In the final game, Gukesh secured the title with a score of 7.5 to 6.5, becoming the 18th world chess champion.

Gukesh is from Chennai, often called India’s chess capital because it has produced many champions. Interestingly, he didn’t come from a chess-playing family. His parents, both in the medical field, enrolled him in chess sessions after school, where his talent was quickly noticed by coaches. They encouraged his parents to support his training. By 2019, at just 12 years and seven months old, Gukesh became a grandmaster, the third-youngest in history.

He has shared that practicing yoga and mindfulness has helped him handle the pressure of being a top chess player.

Gukesh Dommaraju stayed calm and focused on Thursday, while defending champion Ding struggled under the pressure. Ding, who became China’s first chess world champion in 2023, has faced questions about his performance this year.

He took a break from chess earlier in the year and openly spoke about battling depression and mental health issues. Despite this, he started the championship strong with a stylish win against Gukesh in the first game and another victory in Round 12, which showed promise.

Thursday’s match was intense and lasted several hours. Many thought it would end in a draw. However, on the 55th move, Ding made a costly mistake by placing his rook in a position where it could be captured. Realizing his error, he slumped over the table in defeat.

According to Chess.com, Ding had a safe chance to try for a win but instead made a mistake that led to a weaker position. Even though the game should have ended in a draw, Ding made another mistake under pressure. He resigned three moves later.

When Gukesh won, he burst into tears as the crowd cheered loudly. "I didn’t expect to win that position, so I got very emotional," he said.

At 18, Gukesh is the second Indian to become world chess champion after Viswanathan Anand, who won the title five times, last in 2012. Gukesh called it a proud moment for India, chess, and himself.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him, saying, "Historic and amazing! Gukesh’s win shows his great talent, hard work, and determination."

The championship had a big prize fund of $2.5 million!