18-year-old Indian emerges world’s youngest chess champ

Indian teen prodigy, Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest undisputed world chess champion on Thursday after beating China’s Ding Liren in the final match of their series in Singapore.

The 18-year-old became “the Youngest World Champion in history,” said the International Chess Federation in a post on X, after Liren resigned in a thrilling endgame that had been expected to end in a draw.

The 32-year-old slumped on the table after he realised he had made an endgame blunder that allowed his opponent to pounce, while Dommaraju burst into tears, burying his face in both hands.

Cheers from jubilant fans, many of them Indians who had flown in to watch the match and Singaporeans of Indian descent, erupted at the viewing rooms near the playing arena.

Fans were chanting Dommaraju’s name as he walked in for the after-match press conference.

The game was going for a draw but with a one-pawn advantage — supported by a rook and a bishop — a tenacious Dommaraju pressed on and was richly rewarded for it.

“My whole strategy for this match was to push as much as possible in every single game. It just takes one game for the strategy to pay off,” Dommaraju told reporters.

His victory in game 14 gave him a score of 7.5 against Liren’s 6.5, cementing his remarkable rise to stardom after becoming the youngest-ever challenger for the world championship.

At his age, Dommaraju surpassed the achievement of Russia’s Garry Kasparov who won the title at age 22.

He also became the second Indian after five-time world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand, to hold the title.

Magnanimous in victory, Dommaraju praised Liren, saying he “fought like a true champion.”

He had won in the Candidates Tournament held in Toronto, Canada, in April this year, earning him the right to challenge Liren.

– India’s youngest grandmaster –

The Singapore match kicked off on November 25 at the Resorts World Sentosa, stretching on as the two players had more draws than decisive games.

The Chinese grandmaster won the opening game, but Dommaraju levelled the score with a victory in game three.

Seven consecutive draws followed, broken only when Dommaraju beat his opponent in game 11.

But Liren emphatically won an equaliser with white in game 12 and salvaged a draw with the black pieces in the 13th, bringing the game to the home stretch.

Born to a doctor father and a microbiologist mother, the Indian teenager started playing chess when he was seven and became India’s youngest grandmaster aged 12 years, seven months and 17 days.

Though he spends much of his time practising the game, Dommaraju  recently confessed to a love of the hit television sitcom “Friends.”

When competing he usually wears a tilak — a smattering of white ash on his forehead in deference to his Hindu faith — to go with his suit.

In 2022, Dommaraju beat United States’ number one Fabiano Caruana at the Chess Olympiad and later that year triumphed over a five-time world champion, Magnus Carlsen.

He reached the world championship by becoming the youngest winner of the prestigious Candidates Tournament in April.

AFP