India’s Gukesh Dommaraju scripted history on Thursday by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion. The 18-year-old grandmaster won the title by defeating China’s Ding Liren in the 14th and final game of the championship.
Gukesh D has become the first Indian to win the championship after Viswanathan Anand won it in 2012.
Before the final game, both Gukesh D and Ding Liren were tied with 6.5 points each. The final match was also heading for a draw, but a blunder by the Chinese player towards the end was successfully exploited by Gukesh, and won the game, also winning the championship.
🇮🇳 GUKESH D WINS THE 2024 FIDE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP! 👏 🔥#DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/aFNt2RO3UK
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 12, 2024
2024 has been a very successful year for the Indian player. He won the Candidates Tournament in April 2024 and qualified for the 2024 World Championship match against Ding Liren. He became the youngest player to win the Candidates.
Gukesh also excelled as member of the Indian team at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest in September 2024, and won an individual gold medal. His performance helped Indian team to win the first even gold medal at the Olympiads.
