Toronto: Gukesh Dommaraju, a teenage chess prodigy from India, has just become the youngest player to win the men’s Candidates Tournament in Toronto, Canada. This impressive feat gives him the opportunity to challenge reigning world champion Ding Liren of China at the 2024 World Chess Championship later this year.
If Gukesh, also known as Gukesh D, manages to conquer Ding, who is wallowing with subpar records lately, he will beat Garry Kasparov’s record of being the youngest world champion at 22.
After completing the round-robin tournament, the emerging youngest champion said that, “I was completely emotional but after the game, I’m feeling quite good. I don’t really care about being the youngest and all these records, but it’s a nice thing to say. I’m very excited to play in the world championship and really looking forward to all the preparations.”
The Indian grandmaster mentioned that his expedition was only midway through. He was surrounded by Indian fanatics outside his hotel as the nation commemorated another youthful chess mastery. The renowned youngest victor of a Candidates tournament was Russian prodigy Kasparov, who triumphed at the age of 20 in 1984.
Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, hailed the conveyor belt of chess talent arising from Asia and Asian diaspora societies in nations like the United States and Britain. He particularly complimented Gukesh.
Gukesh is set to encounter Ding, a 31-year-old Chinese star who was titled world champion in 2023 after Magnus Carlsen chose not to uphold his championship. Ding became the first Chinese men’s performer in history to become world champion. However, he took a nine-month hiatus from matches after winning the championship and floundered with form upon returning. Despite this, Ding is currently ranked fifth in the world.
After the legendary Viswanathan ‘Vishy’ Anand, Gukesh is the second Indian chess performer to partake in a world championship. Last September, Gukesh surpassed Anand, India’s top-ranked player for nearly 40 years and triumphed in the world championship five times, evolving into the country’s latest top-ranked player.
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