Continuing with the dream run of Indian chess champions at the world stage, India’s chess prodigy D Gukesh on Thursday scripted history by becoming the youngest ever World chess champion, beating title-holder Ding Liren of China in the decisive 14th and last game of the FIDE World Championship Singapore 2024 match hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa.
ADVERTISEMENT (Tap to run video and unmute Sound)
At 18 years, D Gukesh has become the 18th world chess champion. Before him, the legendary Garry Kasparov of erstwhile Soviet Union (USSR) was the youngest world champion when he won the title at the age of 22, dethroning compatriot Anatoly Karpov in 1985.
Gukesh and Liren were tied 2-games-all before the 14th game, with the Indian challenger having won the third and 11th games and the 32-year-old Liren the opening and 12th games. All the other games were tied.
As champion, Gukesh will pick up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.
He is the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to win the world chess title. Anand, a five-time world champion, had lost the title in 2013 to Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who had then become the second youngest world chess champion.
According to a brief initial report on fide.com, in a dramatic and unexpected turn of events, when it seemed that the final game was heading for a draw and tiebreaks were unavoidable, the champion Ding Liren made a huge mistake and capitulated three moves later. The result was 7.5-6.5 for the challenger.
“I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder,” Ding admitted in the post-game press conference.
Advertisement
Gukesh couldn’t believe his eyes when Ding Liren blundered with 55.Rf2??: “At the first moment, I didn’t see that I was winning. When I realized that I was winning it was the best moment of my life.”
Ding Liren painfully acknowledged his loss: “I think I played my best tournament of the year. It could be better, but considering yesterday’s lucky survive, it’s a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets.”
For Gukesh this victory became the culmination of his lifelong dream. “Since I was seven, I have been living this moment, already for ten years. Every chess player wants to experiment this moment and doesn’t get the chance. I am living my dream,” said the elated new World champion.
In a message for aspiring chess champions, Gukesh simply put it: “Keep enjoying chess. Your are going to achieve your dream one day.”
About the FIDE World Championship match
The FIDE World Championship match is one of the most important and widely watched chess events globally. Held every two years, it features the defending World champion and the challenger, chosen through a qualification process culminating in the Candidates Tournament, which includes eight of the world’s top players.
In the FIDE World Championship Singapore 2024, the defending champion was Ding Liren, who won the title after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in Astana, Kazakhstan, in April 2023 on tiebreaks. The challenger was 18-year-old D Gukesh from India, who won the Candidates Tournament in April 2024 in Toronto.
The World Championship match consists of 14 games. The player who scores 7.5 points or more wins the match, and no further games are played. If the score is equal after 14 games, the winner is decided by a tiebreak.
For more information, visit FIDE website: https://www.fide.com/news/3347
