India’s Gukesh Dommaraju defeats Ding Liren of China to become youngest world chess champ

SINGAPORE – Moments after winning the Fide World Championship on Dec 12, Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju called his mother on the phone.

But, for a while, there were no words. Instead, tears flowed freely on both sides of the call, with the 18-year-old having just made history by dethroning defending champion Ding Liren of China at Resorts World Sentosa.

His triumph in Game 14 not only gave him a 7.5-6.5 winning margin, but it also made him the youngest world champion, rewriting a record held by Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he beat fellow Russian Anatoly Karpov in their 1985 rematch in Moscow.

Gukesh will pocket US$1.35 million (S$1.82 million), with Ding taking home US$1.15 million.

The teenager, who was beaming at the press conference, said of the phone call: “First we were not saying anything… we were both crying, then it was congratulations.”

The final game of the best-of-14 match had looked headed for a draw, but Gukesh and Ding pushed for a victory and after more than four hours, the 32-year-old made a blunder in move 55 and resigned three moves later, handing Gukesh the title.

When the crowd realised that Gukesh was going to win, there were loud cheers and some fell over as they rushed into the fan zone to catch a glimpse of history.

The Chennai native said he had been dreaming about this moment since he started playing chess at six.

“Not every chess player gets to experience this moment, and very few get the chance and to be one of them, I’d like to thank God,” he added.

“When I was watching the (world championship) match in 2013, I was in the stands looking inside the glass box, and I thought, it’d be so cool to be inside one day and when Magnus (Carlsen) won, I thought, I really want to be the one to bring the title back to India.”

Ding, who had his head in his hands after his error, said: “I was in total shock when I realised I made a blunder, his (Gukesh’s) face showed that he was very excited. Maybe I should have waited… and now there won’t be a game tomorrow.

“I think I played my best tournament of the year, I could be better, but considering yesterday’s lucky survival, it’s a fair result to lose. I have no regrets, I will continue to play and I hope I can show my strengths (again).”

Gukesh, who paid tribute to Ding for fighting “like a true champion”, has had a stellar 2024, having won the Candidates Tournament in April and the team title at the Chess Olympiad in September.

At the start of the series, Ding surprised the chess fraternity as he won the first game on Nov 25, despite critics saying that the Chinese grandmaster would be “massacred” as he had a poor run of form leading up to the world championship.

Ding, who became world champion after a tiebreak victory over Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023, had opened up on his mental health struggles and took a nine-month break from competitive chess after his win.

The second game ended in a draw, but Gukesh managed to restore parity in the third, with Ding losing after running out of time.

The pair then eked out seven consecutive draws, before Gukesh and Ding won Games 11 and 12 respectively, followed by another draw in Game 13.

Looking forward, Gukesh said: “I want to have a very long career and to stay at the very top. By becoming the world champion doesn’t mean that I’m the best player in the world.

“Obviously there’s Magnus, so it’s a motivating factor and something that will keep me doing the right things.”

One of the next things he will be doing is bungee jumping. On one of his rest days, he had gone on a walk around Sentosa with his assistant, fellow grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski, when they saw people taking the plunge.

“I personally am quite scared of heights,” said Gukesh. “So we both looked at people who were trying bungee jumping and Gajew said, ‘If you win this thing, I’m going to do bungee jumping’... and I don’t know why I said this, but I said, ‘I’ll also join you’.

“So now... looking forward to jumping off a bridge.”