
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated chess prodigy D Gukesh after he won the Chess World Championship on Thursday (Dec 12), beating China’s Ding Liren. The win saw him join legendary Viswanathan Anand and become only the second Indian grandmaster to win the World Chess Championship. Alongside PM Modi, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and other popular figures took to their social media handles to congratulate Gukesh.
Having ended game 13 in a draw after a marathon five-hour contest on Wednesday, Gukesh and Liren started defensively in the latest contest. Playing with the 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.