Dommaraju Gukesh was only seven years old when Vishwanathan Anand lost the world championship title to Magnus Carlsen in Chennai in 2013, a defeat that caused agony for many Indian sports lovers for a long time.
At that time, Gukesh thought he really wanted to be the one to bring back the title to India. And so did he, a success that felt similar to the T20 World Cup win by the Rahul Dravid-coached Indian cricket team this year only, after that shocking 2007 group stage exit in the 2007 ODI World Cup.
"This dream that I had like more than 10 years ago has been the single-most important thing in my life so far," the 18-year-old told reporters after scripting history by defeating Ding Liren of China at the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore on Thursday to become the youngest world chess champion.
🇮🇳 Gukesh D 🥹
Ladies and gentlemen, the 18th WORLD CHAMPION! #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/CgzYBgeTfqBorn on May 29, 2006, in Chennai, the current World Number 5 became a grandmaster in 2019 at the age of 12. Gukesh is now the 18th world chess champion and only the second Indian to win the crown since Anand. Before Gukesh, chess legend Garry Kasparov was the youngest to win the world championship at the age of 22 in 1985.
Earlier this year, Gukesh had won the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024, becoming the youngest challenger to the world championship then.
In September, the country won both the men's and women's gold at the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Gukesh was part of the Indian team along with R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna, clinching the gold in the open section.
The most sacrifices are done by my parents, family, and friends" - 🇮🇳 Gukesh D#DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/lwl6LYVLqS
Two months ago, Tania Sachdev, who was part of the Chess Olympiad-winning women's team, was asked if the then World Championship challenger's win would be a pivotal moment. She pointed out there had been quite a few turning points and it was hard to highlight just one.
"But I think, it's sort of like a river, there are many twists and turns and then, it leads out into this ocean," she had said. "India has had many of these pivotal points. Hopefully, the world championship will be the ocean."
After his victory, Gukesh said that playing against Carlsen in the world championship would be amazing. "It would be the toughest challenge there is in chess," he said. "It is up to Magnus, but I would love to test myself against the best player in the world."
Understandably, the victory was a "very personal moment of pride" for Anand also. "Congratulations! It's a proud moment for chess, a proud moment for India, a proud moment for WACA, and for me."
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