Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh became the youngest-ever world champion when he defeated holder Ding Liren in the deciding Game 14 of the World Chess Championship match in Singapore on Thursday, December 12. At 18, Gukesh also became the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to be crowned the world champion in classical chess.
Gukesh broke the record held by the legendary Garry Kasparov of Russia. In 1985, Kasparov was the youngest world chess champion at 22.
Gukesh and Ding headed into the final game of the match on Thursday tied on 6.5 points each. The 14th game, in which Ding was playing with white pieces, was heading towards a draw until Ding blundered on the 53rd move of the match. Gukesh's decision to keep on playing and apply pressure on Ding, who was a pawn down, worked wonders as last year's world champion blundered in the end.
"It's the best day of my life," Gukesh said after the historic win.
Gukesh won the title with a scoreline of 7.5-6.5, winning the final classical game, which was largely headed for a draw.
Gukesh also became the 18th world champion and the youngest-ever undisputed world champion. Ding was looking to take the match into the tiebreaker, but Gukesh found the winning move in the end.
Gukesh was unable to control his emotions as he went over for a water break after knowing Ding had blundered. Gukesh had a smile on his face when he returned to the board, but tears of joy soon rolled down his cheeks. It did not take long for Ding to resign and hand over the world championship crown to the Indian teenager.
Gukesh took the bold call of extending the endgame. Pundits, including Viswanathan Anand, predicted a draw when the endgame began. However, Gukesh played on and forced the mistake from Ding.
Gukesh began the World Chess Championship match on the back foot, losing the opening game to Ding with white pieces. However, he bounced back to win Game 3.
Gukesh and Ding played out seven successive draws before the Indian Grandmaster stunned Ding in Game 11. Ding bounced back with a near-perfect show in Game 12 with white pieces.
Ding then resisted pressure from Gukesh in Game 13 to eke out a draw and push things into the final classical game, which ended in the favour of the Indian star.
It has been a dream year for D Gukesh, who won the Candidates to become the youngest-ever world championship title challenger. Gukesh also led India to a historic gold in the Chess Olympiad earlier this year.
