'Big part of my dream,' says D Gukesh on historic World Chess Championship win

India’s D Gukesh scripted history on Thursday (Dec 12) after he became the youngest World Chess Championship winner. At 18, Gukesh beat China’s Ding Liren, also becoming the second Indian grandmaster to win the World Chess Championship in Singapore after legendary Viswanathan Anand. After the win, he was emotional and reflected on accomplishing his big dream after winning in game 14 of the World Chess Championship.

Big part of my dream

"This has always been a big part of my dream, a very big part of it. It's a huge step for me. I am very happy for that. But, my goal has always been to be at the very top, for the longest time possible. My career is just starting. I have had 10 years. I want to play for as long as I can. I want to have a very, very long career and stay at the very, very top," Gukesh said to the press after the historic win.

Having ended game 13 in a draw after a marathon five-hour contest on Wednesday, Gukesh and Liren started defensively in the contest on Thursday. Playing with white pawns, Gukesh had a considerable time advantage at the start despite losing key pieces. By the 36th move of the game, the Indian had a 30-minute advantage while both were on the decadency of losing key pieces.

On the 37th move, Gukesh gave a check to Liren with his rook despite no chance of causing any terror. However, a swift response and some aggressive play by the Chinese star meant the game was heading into a draw.

However, the 18-year-old Indian had luck on his side when Liren decided to offer his rook up in his 55th move by placing it at f2, which turned out to be the Championship-deciding blunder. The move opened the gates for Gukesh to win his first World Championship in the 58th move.