India’s Gukesh becomes world’s youngest chess champion

The match seemed to be heeded to a tie, but Gukesh Dommaraju snatched victory with black pieces after China’s Ding Liren made a blunder on his 55th move.

India’s Gukesh Dommaraju became the world’s youngest chess champion on Thursday.

He achieved the title after defeating China’s Ding Liren in the final match of their series in Singapore.

Who is teen chess prodigy Gukesh?

The 18-year-old native of the southern city of Chennai became “the YOUNGEST WORLD CHAMPION in history,” the International Chess Federation said in a post on the platform X.

The second-youngest winner of the title is Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who made the achievement in 1985 at the age of 22.

Gukesh is also the second Indian national to win the title, alongside five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, also hailing from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

He qualified for the match against Ding in April by winning the Candidates tournament.

Ding claimed the title in 2023 after defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Norway’s Magnus Carlsen let go of the title in 2022, citing a lack of motivation.

Ding made a mistake on his 55th move (file photo 25 November)
© Then Chih Wey/Xinhua/dpa/picture alliance

Gukesh snatches victory after Ding blunder

In the pair’s 14th game, Gukesh achieved a score of 7.5 against Ding’s 6.5.

Gukesh won with black pieces after Ding what was described by commentators as a blunder made in a comfortable position.

The match appeared to be heading to a tie-break on Friday but Gukesh managed to defeat Ding after the Chinese player made a huge mistake on his 55th move.

“I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder,” Ding said following the match.

After his win, Gukesh praised his opponent’s performance, saying that Ding had “fought like a true champion.”

Gukesh thanked several of his seconds, trainers, and training partners, including German grand master Vincent Keymer.

The match was a 14-round long-time “classical” event. It had a prize fund of $2.5 million (€2.38 million).

sdi/jcg (AFP, Reuters, dpa)