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Gukesh Dommaraju Becomes World’s Youngest Chess Champion

Singapore —(Map)

Last Thursday, 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju of India beat China’s Ding Liren to win the World Chess Championship. The victory came in a hard-fought final game in Singapore. Gukesh is now the world chess champion, and the youngest person ever to hold the title.

Gukesh, who’s from Chennai, India, has been playing chess since he was about 7 years old. He turned pro when he was 10. At 12, he became a chess grandmaster – the highest title a chess player can reach.

Over the last few years, he’s had a number of successes, including winning individual gold medals at the two most recent Chess Olympiads. In April of this year, he won the Candidates Tournament. That win qualified him to challenge the world champion, Ding Liren.

Dommaraju Gukesh playing in the Candidates Tournament in April, 2024.
Last Thursday, 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest world chess champion ever. Over the last few years, Gukesh has had a number of successes. In April of this year, he won the Candidates Tournament. Above, Gukesh playing in the Candidates Tournament.
(Source: Eldar Azimov, [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.)

The world chess champion is decided by a series of 14 games between the champion and the person challenging them. Players earn 1 point for winning a game and a half point for every drawn (tied) game. To win, a player must earn 7.5 points.

Even though Ding was the world champion, many people thought Gukesh might win. Ding has been having a rough time recently, and hasn’t won a game since January.

Even so, Ding quickly took the lead, winning the first game. But Gukesh began to play better, and even won Game 3. Gukesh continued to play well, but the players tied every game after that until Gukesh won Game 11. Then Ding took Game 12.

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After Game 13, the match was tied at 7.5 games each. That meant that the final game could decide the championship. In the last game (above), Gukesh and Ding played for almost five hours, before Ding made a serious mistake

After Game 13 ended in a draw, the match was tied at 7.5 games each. That meant that the final game could decide the championship.

In the last game, Gukesh and Ding played for almost five hours. But on the 55th move of the game, Ding made a serious mistake. Later, Ding said he was “totally in shock” when he realized he had made a bad move.

But the move made Gukesh very happy. “It was probably the best moment of my life,” he said. The mistake allowed Gukesh to exchange some pieces, which left Gukesh with one more pawn than Ding. It was enough to win.

Ding shook hands with the new champion, and congratulated him on his win. Gukesh was so happy that he cried.

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Gukesh is now the 18th world chess champion. And he’s the youngest person to ever win the title. Many people have congratulated Gukesh on his victory. For winning the tournament, Gukesh will take home $1.35 million of the $2.5 million prize money. Above, Gukesh celebrates with the World Chess Championship trophy.

Gukesh is now the 18th world chess champion. And he’s the youngest person to ever win the title. Previously, that record was held by Garry Kasparov, a Russian who was 22 when he became world champion in 1985.

Many people have congratulated Gukesh on his victory. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Gukesh’s victory had “inspired millions of young minds to dream big”.

For winning the tournament, Gukesh will take home $1.35 million of the $2.5 million prize money.

He may be the world champion, but Gukesh is still focused on improving his game. “Becoming the world champion does not mean I am the best player,” he said. He says he hopes one day to be as strong a chess player as Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen was world champion for 10 years, and is still ranked #1 in the world.


Did You Know…?
Gukesh has a strong team behind him, including his mother and father, who adjusted their jobs to support him. One of the people on his team is Viswanathan Anand, who won the World Chess Championship five times. He’s the only other world chess champion from India.

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