D Gukesh becomes Youngest World Champion: 18-year-old Indian D Gukesh defeated Ding Liren to become the youngest world champion in the history of the World Chess Championship.
World Chess Championships: Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh became the youngest World Chess Champion on Thursday 12 December 2024. Gukesh became the youngest World Champion after Ding Liren made a mistake in the final game of the World Chess Championship in Singapore. This mistake happened when the possibility of a tiebreak looked very real. D Gukesh won the last classical game of the 14-game match to win the title with the required 7.5 points against Ding Liren’s 6.5.
The game ended in the fifth hour when Ding Liren made a mistake, due to which he lost the game, match and crown. It seemed that when the match was heading towards a tiebreak, but Gukesh kept trying and managed to defeat Ding Liren. Ding Liren was trailing for most of the time in the World Chess Championship 2024. D Gukesh will get the lion’s share of the prize money of US$ 2.5 million.
D Gukesh aka Domraju Gukesh was the youngest world chess champion before Russian legend Garry Kasparov. Garry Kasparov won the title at the age of 22 in 1985 by defeating Anatoly Karpov. Gukesh became the youngest player to challenge for the world title after winning the Candidates Tournament earlier this year. He is the second Indian to become world champion after the legendary Vishwanathan Anand. Five-time world champion Anand won his last title in 2013.
The emotional moment that 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju became the 18th world chess champion 🥲🏆 pic.twitter.com/jRIZrYeyCF
— Chess.com (@chesscom) December 12, 2024
After becoming world champion, Gukesh expressed regret for Ding
After winning the title, Gukesh said, ‘I was dreaming of this moment for the last 10 years. I am happy that my dream has come true. I got a little emotional, because I did not expect to win, but then I got a chance to move forward. For me, Ding is the real world champion. I feel sorry for Ding and his team. I would like to thank my opponent.’
D Gukesh is the 18th world champion
After the victory, Gukesh raised his arms smiling excitedly. He said, ‘Every chess player wants to live this dream. I am living my dream.’ Gukesh won the 14th game against Liren after 58 moves in 4 hours. He is the 18th world chess champion overall. Gukesh had won the third and 11th rounds before Thursday’s decisive game, while 32-year-old Liren was victorious in the opening and 12th games.
