Grandmaster D Gukesh: India’s 17-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh created history by winning the Candidates Chess tournament here and becoming the youngest challenger for the world title. He will take on reigning world champion Ding Liren of China for the crown later this year. Gukesh earned nine out of a possible 14 points here after drawing his final round game against American Hikaru Nakamura. He became the second Indian to win the Candidates after the great Viswanathan Anand. Five-time world champion Anand’s victory came in 2014.
“Congratulations @digukesh on becoming the youngest challenger. The family is very proud of what you have done. I am personally very proud of the way you played and handled the tough situations. Enjoy the moment,” Anand posted on ‘X’ to congratulate the youngster who like him is also from Chennai.
The Indian needed the last game between Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi and top seed American Fabiano Caruana to end in a draw and that is exactly how things turned out. Had either of these two players won, the tournament would have required a tie-break as Gukesh and the winner would have been in joint lead.
Gukesh has been making waves for quite some time now and became the third youngest player in chess history to achieve the Grandmaster title at the age of 12. Last year, he won a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The dates and venues of the World Championships are yet to be decided.
