18-year-old D Gukesh made history at the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore on Thursday by defeating reigning title holder China’s Ding Liren. Gukesh became the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to win the title. Anand won the title in 2013.
Additionally, Gukesh became the youngest world champion (18 years) surpassing the achievements of Russia’s Garry Kasparov. Following Gukesh’s victory in the World Chess Championship, social media was flooded with congratulations and blessings from both sports and political figures.
Image: Instagram
With the scores levelled at 6.5-6.5 each heading into the final game, Gukesh managed to deliver his best when it was needed the most, with the 18-year-old sealing a historic win over Ding to become the 18th chess champion in the sport’s history. The final score was Gukesh (7.5) and Ding (6.5), as per FIDE’s official website.
The 18-year-old Indian in April created history as he won the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2024, becoming the youngest-ever challenger to the world title held by Liren.Following his triumph, Gukesh became overwhelmed with emotions and broke down in tears.
Liren and Gukesh reactions after final game of World Chess Championship
Following the game, Liren said in the post-match press conference, “I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder. I will continue to play. I think I played my best tournament of the year. It could be better, but considering yesterday’s lucky survive it is a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets.”
Gukesh termed the win as the “best moment of his life”. in the post-match press conference he said, “I have faith in God and He has helped me in so many ways, like for example in last year I was not even qualifying for the Candidates and then God gave me so many opportunities.When Magnus won, I thought I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India”
