India's D Gukesh beats China's Ding Liren to win 2024 World Chess Championship; becomes youngest champion

India’s Gukesh Dommaraju (better known as D Gukesh) won the 2024 World Chess Championship on Thursday (Dec 12) by beating defending champion Ding Liren of China. After winning the 14th game of the championship final, he became the second Indian after legendary Viswanathan Anand to win the prestigious title and the youngest ever at the age of 18. The decisive win came after both entered the 14th round with 6.5 points each, but a costly mistake by the Chinese in the 58th move led to Gukesh’s win.

Gukesh scripts history

Having ended game 13 in a draw after a marathon five-hour contest on Wednesday, Gukesh and Liren started defensively 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 for 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, in the process scripting history to become the youngest to win the title at 18.

Russian great Garry Kasparov had held the record for the youngest world champion until Gukesh’s success. Kasparov won the 1985 World Chess Championship when he was 22, a record he held until the Indian star’s success in Singapore.

An emotional Gukesh was seen in tears after his mammoth success, while the entire chess fraternity congratulated him for his success.