Grandmaster Gukesh D creates history, becomes youngest Candidates Chess winner
Gukesh became the only other Indian to win the Candidates after the illustrious Viswanathan Anand, who won in 2014
India’s 17-year-old Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju made history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament and becoming the youngest challenger ever to the world title, on Saturday evening, April 20th, 2024, at the Great Hall venue.
Gukesh D defeated his French adversary Aloreza Firouzja in the Open section of the 2024 Candidates Tournament, organized by the International Chess Federation or Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE). As the sole leader, he ended the penultimate round Of the ongoing Candidates tournament in Toronto. Gukesh will now challenge China’s Ding Liren for the crown later this year.
The Indian required the last game between top-seeded American Fabio Carruana and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi to conclude in a draw, and that is precisely how things turned out on this dramatic chess day. The Indian also drew his match against Hikaru Nakamura.
Emotions ran high and low throughout the last round as well. When it appeared that their match would end in a tie, Fabiano Caruana made a critical error that radically changed the outcome of the championship match versus Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Asked about his thoughts about his final game during the post-game press conference in Toronto, Gukesh said, “I’ll just play a good game tomorrow and see what happens.”
In addition to giving him a chance to win the world championship, Gukesh’s extraordinary talent and unrelenting perseverance have motivated a new generation of chess lovers throughout the world.
Asked about the game plan, he said, “I guess I’ll go with the same strategy, try and play a good game. I’ve managed so far and hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to follow the plan.”
Gukesh became the only other Indian to win the Candidates after the illustrious Viswanathan Anand. The victory of five-time world champion Anand occurred in 2014. Gukesh, the Asian Games silver medallist from Hangzhou, finished first in the Candidates with a score of 9/14.
“Congratulations to @DGukesh for becoming the youngest challenger. The @WacaChess family is so proud of what you have done. I’m personally very proud of how you played and handled tough situations. Enjoy the moment,” Anand posted on ‘X’ to congratulate the youngster, who like him, also hails from Chennai.
While Caruana defeated Praggnanandhaa R, another Indian youngster, Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura drew. Praggnanandhaa has six points thus far, and Santosh Gujarathi Vidit has five points as well.
The competition, which is being staged in Canada for the first time, might come down to a close match on Saturday when Gukesh takes versus Fabiano Caruana in a game of Nakamura with Nepomniachtchi. Even though Gukesh is the only player with the opportunity to secure the victory, the top four players on the scoreboard will all be hoping for a favorable result.
