Hyderabad: India’s young chess sensation, D Gukesh has scripted history becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion at the age of 18. Google celebrated the historic moment by creating a vibrant doodle for his triumph. After the Indian Grandmaster defeated the defending Champion Ding Liren, Google featured chess pieces in their signature colours - yellow, red, blue, and white in their doodle. A click on the doodle takes the users to a “Celebrating Chess" page which honours the game and shows its iconic 64-square board including a bishop.
The fixture saw several records being broken. The World Championship 2024 was the first in 138 years to feature two contestants from Asia, former World Champion Ding Liren and challenger Dommaraju Gukesh from India. Before Gukesh, Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov of Russia was the youngest world chess champion winning the title at the age of 22 in 1985.
D Gukesh, a name that has recently captured the world's attention, is a young Indian chess prodigy who has made history by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion.
— Dhram Goswami (@dhram_goswami) December 13, 2024
Born on 29th March 2006 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Gukesh's journey to the top has been nothing short of… pic.twitter.com/qKxD0n8Obw
18-year-old Gukesh, who is also the third youngest Grandmaster also became the second Indian after legendary Viswanathan Anand.
In a dramatic final that was heading into a draw, the Chinese Grandmaster started with an advantage as he started the contest with white pieces. However, Ding made a blunder in the 53rd move which paved the way for Gukesh’s victory. The tightly fought contest lasted for four hours and held the spectators to the edge of their seats. After the triumph, Gukesh will take home ₹11.45 Crores while Ding will have prize money ₹9.75 Crores.
Reflecting on his win to become the 18th World Chess Champion, Gukesh said that he had been dreaming of this moment for the last 10 years.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment for the last 10 years. It feels incredible to turn that dream into reality." Overwhelmed with emotion, he added, “I wasn’t expecting to win, and this moment means everything to me."
