D. Gukesh Makes History as the Youngest World Chess Champion
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Singapore, Dec 12 (NationPress) In a remarkable achievement, India's D. Gukesh made history on Thursday by clinching the title of the youngest World Champion in chess, overcoming Ding Liren from China in a thrilling 14-game match.
The 18-year-old prodigy from Chennai took advantage of a critical blunder made by Ding in the decisive 14th game, ultimately securing victory with a score of 7.5 to 6.5. This victory makes him only the second Indian to ever hold the World Chess Champion title.
By triumphing over Ding, Gukesh has now become the 18th World Champion in the sport's extensive history, setting a new record as the youngest champion, surpassing Garry Kasparov's previous record of winning the title at the age of 22, thus marking the emergence of a new king in the chess realm.
Gukesh is the second Indian to capture the World Chess Championship title, doing so a little over ten years after five-time champion Viswanathan Anand lost the title to Magnus Carlsen of Norway in Chennai back in 2013. Carlsen relinquished the crown in 2023, clearing the path for Ding to defeat Ian Nepomniachtchi.
In the final game of the World Chess Championship, which was a do-or-die situation, Ding initially aimed for a draw after opening with the Reversed Grunfeld variation of the Zukertort Opening. However, the 32-year-old made a shocking mistake that shifted the course of the match.
In a dramatic turn of events, when it appeared that the final game would end in a draw, the reigning champion made a grave error by moving a rook, which led to his bishop being pinned in a rook-pawn ending where both players had only one bishop.
After 13 intense games spanning three weeks, Ding was anticipating the rapid and blitz tiebreakers, having effectively countered Gukesh's aggressive play to steer the game towards a drawish position.
"I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder," Ding admitted during the post-match press conference.
Gukesh, on the other hand, was in disbelief when he witnessed Ding's blunder with 55.Rf2: "At first, I didn’t see that I was winning. When I realized it, it was the best moment of my life."
The unexpected nature of the blunder caught Gukesh off guard, but he quickly composed himself, exchanged the rook and bishop, forcing Ding to resign after 58 moves.
"I have been dreaming of this for the last 10-12 years since I started playing chess, and the only way to explain this is that I am living my dream. Firstly, thankfully to God, as I am living a miracle, and it could be possible only because of God," Gukesh expressed, acknowledging Ding Liren's valiant effort throughout the match despite his physical condition.
With this victory, Gukesh earned prize money amounting to $1.35 million (approximately Rs 11.45 crore), while Ding Liren received $1.15 million (around Rs 9.75 crore) from the total prize pool of US$2.5 million.
From the total amount, Gukesh directly earned $600,000 (approximately Rs 5.07 crore) by winning three games, while Liren, who won two games, received $400,000 (about Rs 3.38 crore).
