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Gukesh Dommaraju

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In this Telugu name, the surname is Dommaraju.

Gukesh Dommaraju (born 29 May 2006), also known as Gukesh D, is an Indian chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. He is the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion in the history of the game.[1] A chess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, and was the third-youngest to have surpassed 2700 at the age of 16. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 12 and remains the third-youngest grandmaster in the history of chess.[2]

Gukesh Dommaraju
Gukesh in 2024
CountryIndia
Born (2006-05-29) 29 May 2006 (age 18)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
TitleGrandmaster (2019)
World Champion2024–present
Years active2015–present
FIDE rating2783 (December 2024)
Peak rating2794 (October 2024)
RankingNo. 5 (December 2024)
Peak rankingNo. 5 (October 2024)
Medal record
Representing  India
Men's chess
World Championship
First place 2024 Singapore Men's individual
Olympiad
Gold medal – first place 2022 Chennai Open individual board 1
Gold medal – first place 2024 Budapest Open team
Gold medal – first place 2024 Budapest Open individual board 1
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Chennai Open team
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Men's team
World Youth Championship
Gold medal – first place 2020 Online Boys' individual
Gold medal – first place 2018 Santiago de Compostela Boys' individual
Asian Youth Championship
Gold medal – first place 2018 Thailand Individual rapid
Gold medal – first place 2018 Thailand Individual blitz
Gold medal – first place 2018 Thailand Team rapid
Gold medal – first place 2018 Thailand Team blitz
Gold medal – first place 2018 Thailand Individual classical

He won a team gold and an individual gold medal at the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024, as well as a team bronze and an individual gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. At the age of 18, he became the youngest Candidates Tournament winner and, subsequently, the World Chess Champion by defeating Ding Liren 7½ to 6½ at the World Chess Championship 2024.[3] At the junior level, he is a multiple-gold medalist at the World Youth Championship and the Asian Youth Chess Championship. Gukesh is also a silver medalist at the Asian Games.[4]

Early life

Birth and background

Gukesh was born on 29 May 2006 in Chennai into a Telugu family from Andhra Pradesh.[5][6][7] His mother, Padma, is a microbiologist while his father, Rajinikanth, is an ENT surgeon.[8] He learned to play chess at the age of seven.[9] He studied at the Velammal Vidyalaya School, in Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai.[10]

Gukesh's family hails from the village of Chenchuraju Kandriga, near Satyavedu in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh.[5][6][7] His grandfather Shankar Raju was born and raised in Chenchuraju Kandriga and worked in the Indian Railways. His son Rajinikanth, later settled in Chennai to pursue a medical career and married Padmavathi there.[6][5] The family owns properties in Chenchuraju Kandriga, where Shankar Raju is currently settled.[5][11]

Chess beginnings

Gukesh embarked on his chess journey in 2013, starting with structured one-hour sessions held three times a week. From 2017 to 2018, his mother became the sole breadwinner after his father quit his job to travel with Gukesh for various tournaments. Inasmuch as the family faced financial struggles, Gukesh was sponsored by his parents' friends during the time.[12] His extraordinary talent having been being recognized institutionally early on, he has been the beneficiary of the robust Indian chess ecosystem, perhaps the best in the world, from his schooldays onwards.[13]

Chess style

Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen regards Gukesh's style of play as "...pure counter... I can't say that his style fascinates me like Praggnanandhaa or Erigaisi. But at the same time, Gukesh almost never makes mistakes, which makes him an extremely dangerous opponent under any circumstances..."[14]

Career

Youth Championships and rise in chess (2015–2019)

Gukesh won the Under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015[15] and the World Youth Chess Championships in 2018 in the Under 12 category.[16] He also won five gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championships in the U-12 individual rapid and blitz, U-12 team rapid and blitz and U-12 individual classical formats.[17] He completed the requirements for the title of International Master in March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open.[18]

On 15 January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Gukesh became the then second-youngest grandmaster in history,[19] only surpassed by Sergey Karjakin by 17 days.[20] The record has since been beaten by Abhimanyu Mishra, making Gukesh the third-youngest.[21][22]

In June 2021, he won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, scoring 14 out of 19 points.[23]

Olympiad individual gold (2022)

In August 2022, he played the 44th Chess Olympiad and initially had a perfect score of 8/8, notably defeating US No. 1 Fabiano Caruana in the eighth match.[24] He finished with a score of 9 out of 11, earning the gold medal on the 1st board and his team India-2 finished third in the tournament.

In September 2022, Gukesh reached a rating of over 2700 for the first time, with a rating of 2726.[25] This made him the third-youngest player to pass 2700, after Wei Yi and Alireza Firouzja.[26] In October 2022 during the Aimchess Rapid tournament, Gukesh became the youngest player to beat Magnus Carlsen since the latter became World Champion.[27]

Candidates qualification (2023)

In the August 2023 rating list, Gukesh became the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2750.[28] Gukesh participated in the Chess World Cup 2023. He defeated Misratdin Iskandarov, S. L. Narayanan, Andrey Esipenko, and Wang Hao to qualify for the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.[29]

In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh officially surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player, marking the first time in 37 years that Anand was not the top-ranked Indian player.[30][31] In December 2023, with the end of the FIDE Circuit, Gukesh qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament.[32] Gukesh had placed second in the Circuit, but Fabiano Caruana, the winner, had already qualified through the World Cup.[33] He became the third youngest player to qualify for a Candidates tournament, behind Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen.[34][35]

Olympiad individual and team gold (2024)

 
Gukesh (left) playing Alireza Firouzja at the 2024 Candidates Tournament

In January 2024, Gukesh participated in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024. He scored 8.5/13 to finish in a 4-way tie for first place. In the twelfth round, he had a winning position against R Praggnanandhaa but blundered into a threefold repetition. In tiebreaks, he defeated Anish Giri in the semifinals but lost to Wei Yi in the finals.[36]

In April 2024, Gukesh participated in the 2024 Candidates Tournament (the WACA livery on his blazer standing for WestBridge-Ananad Chess Academy).[37][13][38] Gukesh won games against R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi playing as black, Alireza Firouzja playing as white, and Nijat Abasov playing as both black and white.[39] His only loss was his game with black against Firouzja. This gave him five wins, one loss and eight draws, for a score of 9/14, winning the tournament and qualifying for the 2024 World Championship match against Ding Liren.[40] He is the youngest-ever winner of the Candidates.[41][42][43]

In September 2024, Gukesh took part in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest as part of the Indian team. He showcased a dominant performance on board one, scoring an unbeaten 9 points in the 10 games he played. In the tournament, he defeated grandmasters Vignir Vatnar Stefansson, Ádám Kozák, Alexandr Predke, Aydin Suleymanli, Wei Yi, Parham Maghsoodloo, Fabiano Caruana, and Vladimir Fedoseev. He had a performance rating of 3056, which was the highest among all players in the tournament. His performance earned him an individual gold medal on board one, and helped India to their first ever team gold medal at the Olympiad.[44]

Gukesh entered the FIDE world top-five for the first time on 1 October 2024.[45][46]

Youngest world champion (2024–present)

Gukesh became the 18th World Chess Champion on 12 December 2024 after defeating Ding Liren in the last game and winning the World Chess Championship by 7.5–6.5.[47] The win made him the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion,[48] a notable feat for which he received accolades within and without the chess world.[49] Furthermore, Tamil and Telegu partisans promptly claimed him as their own on-line.[50] FIDE characterized most of the gameplay as having "near-perfect accuracy", and Ding graciously said at the press conference that it was his best game of the year, and that he had no regrets.[51]

World Chess Championship 2024
Rating Match games Points
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
  Gukesh Dommaraju (IND) 2783 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 7½
  Ding Liren (CHN) 2728 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 6½

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result Ref(s)
2023 Asian Chess Federation Player of the Year Won [52]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Youngest Chess Grandmasters In History". Chess.com. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  2. ^ Staff, Al Jazeera. "How India's Gukesh Dommaraju became chess king in a cricket crazy country". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  3. ^ The Hindu Bureau (12 December 2024). "World Chess Championship 2024, Gukesh vs Ding Game 14 LIVE: Gukesh becomes World Chess Champion". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Candidates Chess: Gukesh becomes youngest winner, to challenge for world title". The Economic Times. 22 April 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d Kanukula, Sumanth (13 December 2024). "Celebrations in AP with Gukesh's victory.. His grandfather's hometown is somewhere in Andhra Pradesh". Times Now News. Retrieved 13 December 2024. Gukesh was born on May 29, 2006, in a Telugu family settled in Chennai. Gukesh's ancestors belonged to the joint Chittoor district.
  6. ^ a b c "మనోడే.. చదరంగ విశ్వవిజేత". Eenadu (in Telugu). 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Dommaraju Gukesh : కొడుకు కోసం డాక్టర్ వృత్తినే వదులుకున్నాడు..కట్ చేస్తే 18 ఏళ్లకే ప్రపంచాన్ని జయించాడు". News18 (in Telugu). 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  8. ^ Prasad RS (16 January 2019). "My achievement hasn't yet sunk in: Gukesh". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  9. ^ Lokpria Vasudevan (17 January 2019). "D Gukesh: Grit and determination personify India's youngest Grandmaster". India Today. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Velammal students win gold at World Cadet Chess championship 2018". Chennai Plus. 9 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  11. ^ "జగజ్జేత మన గుకేశ్‌ | Dommaraju Gukesh becomes world chess champion". Sakshi (in Telugu). 13 December 2004. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  12. ^ "Gukesh stopped regular school at class IV, no sponsor, father quit job, mother had to…: Story of youngest world champ". Hindustan Times. 13 December 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Gukesh Dommaraju: How the Indian teenager became youngest world chess champion". www.bbc.com.
  14. ^ "Gukesh D - 2700chess.com". www.2700chess.com.
  15. ^ Shubham Kumthekar; Priyadarshan Banjan (2018). "Gukesh D: The story behind a budding talent". IIFL Wealth Mumbai International Chess Tournament. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Chess: India Gukesh, Savitha Shri bag gold medals in U-12 World Cadets Championship". scroll.in. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  17. ^ Prasad RS (13 March 2018). "Gukesh wins 5 gold medals in Asian Youth Chess Championship". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  18. ^ Prasad RS (13 March 2018). "Gukesh making all the right moves". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  19. ^ Shah, Sagar (15 January 2019). "Gukesh becomes second youngest GM in history". Chess News. ChessBase. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  20. ^ Shah, Sagar (9 December 2018). "Gukesh with 2 GM norms and 2490 Elo is on the verge of becoming world's youngest GM". ChessBase India. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  21. ^ Hartmann, John (30 June 2021). "GM Abhimanyu Mishra is the Youngest GM in History!". US Chess.org. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  22. ^ Barden, Leonard (26 April 2024). "Chess: Gukesh, 17, shocks favourites to become youngest challenger for title". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  23. ^ Rao, Rakesh (14 June 2021). "Gritty Gukesh wins Gelfand Challenge". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  24. ^ "Gukesh makes it 8/8 and dumps Caruana out of Top 10". web.archive.org. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  25. ^ Gukesh D, Rating Progress Chart, FIDE
  26. ^ "Biel: Gukesh becomes third-youngest player to cross the 2700 mark". en.chessbase.com. 17 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Gukesh D vs. Carlsen, Magnus". chess24.com. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  28. ^ Gukesh Breaks Record: Youngest Player To Cross 2750 Rating, chess.com, 21 July 2023.
  29. ^ "2023 Chess WC Q/Fs: Pragg takes Erigaisi to tie-breaks; Gukesh, Vidit out". ESPN.com. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  30. ^ Menon, Anirudh (1 September 2023). "37 years – How the world changed as Anand stayed constant on top of Indian chess". ESPN.
  31. ^ Watson, Leon (1 September 2023). "Gukesh Ends Anand's 37-Year Reign As India's Official Number 1". Chess.com.
  32. ^ "Gukesh confirms his Candidates spot". Hindustan Times. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  33. ^ "FIDE World Championship Cycle". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  34. ^ Gukesh confirms his Candidates spot, Hindustan Times, 31 December 2023
  35. ^ Who will win the 2024 Candidates Tournament?, Chessbase, 24 March 2024
  36. ^ Carlos Alberto Colodro (29 January 2024). "Wei Yi brilliantly wins Tata Steel Masters in blitz playoff". ChessBase. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  37. ^ "Who are world chess champion D Gukesh's jacket sponsors and which brand does he endorse?". The Week.
  38. ^ "WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA) - WestBridge Capital • Westbridge Capital". westbridgecap.com.
  39. ^ Gukesh Youngest Ever Candidates Winner, Tan Takes Women's By 1.5 Points, chess.com, 18 April 2024
  40. ^ Dylan Loeb McClain. "The Next Winner of the World Chess Championship Could Be the Youngest Ever". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  41. ^ Leonard Barden (26 April 2024). "Chess: Gukesh, 17, shocks favourites to become youngest challenger for title". The Guardian.
  42. ^ Sunaadh Sagar (22 April 2024). "D Gukesh, aged 17, wins FIDE Candidates 2024; will play Ding Liren for World Champion title". ESPN. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  43. ^ "Indian teenager Gukesh to challenge China's Ding for world chess title". Al Jazeera English. 22 April 2024.
  44. ^ "India wins historic double team gold at FIDE Chess Olympiad 2024". Al Jazeera English. 23 September 2024.
  45. ^ "October 2024 FIDE Ratings: Gukesh Joins Arjun In World Top-5". chess.com. October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  46. ^ "Arjun Erigaisi, Gukesh in top 5 rankings after historic Chess Olympiad; Ding Liren out of top 20". Indian Express. October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  47. ^ The Hindu Bureau (8 December 2024). "World Chess championship 2024 Game 11 LIVE updates: Gukesh wins after Ding blunder, takes lead for first time". The Hindu. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  48. ^ McGourty, Colin (12 December 2024). "18-Year-Old Gukesh Becomes Youngest-Ever Undisputed Chess World Champion". Chess.com. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  49. ^ Staff, Al Jazeera. "How India's Gukesh Dommaraju became chess king in a cricket crazy country". Al Jazeera.
  50. ^ https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/gukesh-dommaraju-tamilian-or-telugu-mk-stalin-chandrababu-naidu-tamil-or-telugu-mk-stalin-chandrababu-naidu-lead-battle-over-chess-champ-gukeshs-herit-7237651
  51. ^ "FIDE World Championship Game 14: Gukesh D crowned 18th World Champion". www.fide.com.
  52. ^ "Gukesh won the "Player of the Year" and "Best Young Achievers Male" awards". indianexpress.com.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to D. Gukesh.
Achievements
Preceded by World Chess Champion
2024–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Youngest ever Indian Grandmaster
2019–present 		Incumbent
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