D Gukesh Who is D Gukesh, 17 year old Indian grand master who wins candidates chess to challenge world champion dgtl

Cheers erupted at the Great Hall in Toronto, Canada after India’s Gukesh Dommaraju’s match against Hikaru Nakamura of America was drawn early on Monday morning Indian time. One by one everyone came to congratulate the 17-year-old Indian Grand Master. Because, he made history in chess. Not only an Indian, he won the Candidates Chess Tournament as the youngest in the world. Gukesh qualified to challenge world champion Ding Liren.

There were two candidates representing India. Gukesh and Rameshbabu Pragyananda. Gukesh was eye-catching from the beginning. He was on top throughout several rounds. But in the end the competition became tough. All eyes were on the match between Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepamniachi. Caruana was ahead. But he made a mistake in the 41st move. As a result, the game was drawn after 109 moves. This draw was enough for Gukesh to draw against Nakamura in the final round. That’s what he does. After 14 rounds of competition, the Indian Grand Master became the champion.

Gukesh also had an eye on the match between Caruana and Nepmanyachi. As the game was a draw, the pressure was off him. After becoming the champion, Gukesh said, “I feel good, I feel relieved. I was watching the game of Caruana and Nepmaniachi. After that, I went out for a walk with my second, Gregor Gajewski. That helped a lot.”

Who is this Gukesh Dommaraju?

Gukesh was born in Chennai, the city of India’s first grandmaster and former world champion Viswanathan Anand. Father is a doctor. Mother is a microbiologist. Gukesh started playing chess at the age of seven. A year later he won the Under-9 Asian School Chess Championship. Gukesh won five golds in various competitions at the U-12 level. He qualified as Grand Master at the age of 12 years 7 months 17 days. Gukesh became the youngest in India and the second youngest in the world (at the age of 12 years and 7 months, Sergey Karjakin of Russia became the Grand Master). His meteoric rise in Indian chess caught everyone’s attention. After 26 years, Gukesh overtook Anand to become India’s number one chess player.

Gukesh will become the youngest world champion if he defeats China’s Liren. This record is held by Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. Both became world champions at the age of 22. In other words, Gukesh has an opportunity to write another history in world chess.

After Anand, Gukesh became the second Indian to win the Candidates Chess Championship. He is a student of Anand Academy. And that’s why there was a debate about Gukesh getting a chance in Candidates. Last year the Chennai Grand Masters was not in the primary calendar of Indian chess. The competition was organized at the last minute. After that, the controversy started. The question was raised, is this competition organized so that the two grand masters of South Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi can qualify the candidates?

At that time, Viswanathan Anand, assistant president of the world chess organization FIDE, stood as Gukesh’s shield. India’s first Grandmaster said, “If a competitor sees that fifth in the competition will give him a chance and he focuses on finishing fifth instead of winning, is he breaking the rules?” According to me, everyone should play to be a champion. But if a contestant is playing for fifth place then he is not doing anything wrong. Not breaking the rules. No rules were broken by organizing this competition. There is no problem with that.”

Gukesh proves that Anand made the right decision at that time. An opportunity has come to him to put Indian chess back on the throne. The Indian star defeated France’s Alireza Firuza on Saturday in the Candidates. About which Anand said, “What this 17-year-old boy can do, no one can imagine. Whatever the outcome of the final round, what Gukesh does will mark a new chapter in the history of Indian chess.”

Gukesh has created a new chapter. Anand couldn’t contain his joy at the student’s achievement. Anand on X handle (ex Twitter) wrote, “The youngest challenger is now Gukesh. congratulations Everyone at Anand Academy is proud of you. Personally, I am also very proud of the way you have handled difficult situations. Enjoy the moment.”