He’s 18 and becomes the 18e world chess champion. The youngest in history. International grandmaster at the age of 12, youngest winner of the Candidates Tournament at 17, the young Indian Dommaraju Gukesh confirms his incredible precocity. And in Singapore, he also demonstrated absolute mastery of his nerves, going through all the motions. He is the second Indian to win the world title, twenty-four years after Viswanathan Anand, and was immediately congratulated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Congratulations to Gukesh on his remarkable victory, posted Modi on X. It’s the result of his unprecedented talent, hard work and unwavering determination. His triumph not only engraves his name in the annals of chess, but also inspires millions of young minds to dream big and strive for excellence.”
“ I’m living a dream “were Gukesh’s first words after snatching victory in the final round of this 14-game World Championship. It was a strange World Championship, with Ding Liren constantly alternating between the worst and the best, which may have unsettled Gukesh, who came very close to victory on several occasions without achieving it. As a result, before the final match on Thursday, the two men were tied on points with just two wins apiece.
We were heading for another draw and a tie-break decision when Ding Liren, with the whites, did the irreparable. The Indian hallucinated when he realized the extent of his opponent’s blunder and controlled his excitement to check several times that he wasn’t dreaming before concluding victoriously and expressing his emotion between tears and big smiles.
Shocked by his terrible mistake, Ding Liren appeared stunned a few minutes after his defeat. A good sport, he saluted Gukesh’s title after admitting that he had miraculously survived in the 13th.e round on Wednesday, and that he had been very lucky. ” I’m going to keep playing “, he declared with a stare, holding back tears and a flat voice.
