Courtesy: Chess24/X
On Thursday, December 12, Indian GM Dommaraju Gukesh created history by becoming the youngest World Chess Champion at 18 years of age at the Equarius Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. After Ding Liren resigned the Game 14 of the World Chess Championship 2024 match by shaking hands with Dommaraju Gukesh, the teenager was overwhelmed with emotions, firstly smiling at what he had achieved before breaking down in tears moments later.
Notably, Dommaraju Gukesh is only the second World Chess Champion from India after the legendary Vishwanthan Anand, who celebrated his 55th birthday just a day ago. In the Game 14 of the World Chess Championship 2024 match, with the tie-breakers looming large, Gukesh pushed Ding to his absolute limit despite having the black pieces, and when the Chinese blundered under time pressure, his Indian counterpart went a pawn up in a king-pawn endgame, to force a resignation on move 58th.
Watch the winning moment of Dommaraju Gukesh in World Chess Championship 2024 match:
With his epic victory, Dommaraju Gukesh went on top of the list of the youngest World Chess Champions in the history of the game. He achieved his crowning glory at an age of 18 years, 8 months, and 14 days, beating the previous record set by Garry Kasparov of Russia, who had become world champion nearly 40 years ago, when he was just 22 years, 6 months, and 27 days old.
Here is the list of the youngest World Chess Champions in history with the exact date of earning the coveted title:
Dommaraju Gukesh: 18 years, 8 months, 14 days (December 12, 2024)
Garry Kasparov: 22 years, 6 months, 27 days (November 9, 1985)
Magnus Carlsen: 22 years, 11 months, 24 days (November 23, 2013)
Mikhail Tal: 23 years, 5 months, 28 days (May 7, 1960)
Anatoly Karpov: 23 years, 10 months, 11 days (April 3, 1975)
Vladimir Kramnik: 25 years, 4 months, 10 days (November 4, 2000)
Emanuel Lasker: 25 years, 5 months, 2 days (May 26, 1894)
In the press conference, Dommaraju Gukesh talked about his emotions after realising that he had become the new world champion. He was quoted as saying, as per the Times of India, “I got emotional because I wasn't expecting to win from that position. I was going to press. But I was like let's focus on tie-breaks. But when I saw the blunder, I came to realise that I had achieved my dream.”
