Chess sensation: 17-year-old Indian Dommaraju Gukesh wins the Candidates Tournament. He can now challenge world champion Ding Liren at the end of the year. For the first time, the two largest countries in the world are playing for the chess crown.
A chess tournament couldn’t be more exciting. Four of the eight players at the Candidates Tournament in Toronto were able to win the tournament before the final round on Monday night and thus earn the right to challenge world champion Ding Liren from China. Among them are the three big favorites: the Americans Caruana and Nakamura and the Russian Nepomniachtchi (who plays under a neutral flag). Dommaraju Gukesh from India was fourth.
All four candidates played in direct duels against each other. Caruana had the chance to win against “Nepo”, which would have led to a tie-breaker with Gukesh, but he left a winning position behind. Caruana was therefore unable to bring an advantage he had previously gained to the finish line.
So all the chess stars came away empty-handed. And the victory was actually won by the 17-year-old Indian Gukesh. He played convincingly throughout the tournament, was always at the forefront of the race – and yet his triumph is what is otherwise often talked about in inflationary terms in sport: a sensation.
Gukesh on his way to becoming the youngest world chess champion
There has never been a younger winner of the Candidates Tournament, and at the end of 2024 Gukesh could now become the youngest chess world champion of all time. Even younger than Bobby Fischer or Magnus Carlsen. Before the tournament, Carlsen himself had placed Gukesh in second-to-last place in his favorites table. India’s chess boom has been obvious to everyone for years. But hardly anyone thought it would bear fruit so quickly.
Except Gukesh himself. At the beginning of February he played in a chess tournament on the Baltic Sea. We meet the teenager for an interview.
“The Candidates Tournament starts in April, you are there. Who is her favorite?”
“Obviously myself.”
“Really? With all the big names involved?”
“Yes, really. If I have to choose a favorite, I’ll pick myself.”
He is extremely confident, but not arrogant. He always has words of praise for his opponents. But it becomes clear: This 17-year-old may still be a teenager on paper, but he’s already come a long way. Especially on the chessboard.
Painful defeat, then top form
During the Candidates Tournament, he was a promising frontrunner right from the start. When he lost to the Frenchman Firouzja in the seventh round, videos of him crouching desperately at the board, desperately holding out his hand to give up, went viral on the internet. He seems completely distraught at this moment. But the shock doesn’t break Gukesh.
“Even though I had just suffered a painful defeat, I felt at my best afterwards,” he says looking back. In the next round he beats his Indian competitor Vidit in a spectacular game with the black pieces.
It’s not the only game Gukesh wins. He has an aggressive style and often takes risks. If an opponent challenges him to fight in an open position, Gukesh often accepts the challenge – and rarely fails.
Gukesh’s success shocks the elite
His success comes as a shock to the veterans of chess. For them it was possibly their last chance to play for the World Cup again. The Russian Nepo was ahead for a long time and didn’t lose a single one of his 14 games. Too many draws were his downfall.
The Americans Caruana and Nakamura were almost hopelessly behind after the first half of the tournament. In the end, their race to catch up came too late. With 8.5 out of 14 possible points, they would have often won a candidate tournament in the past. This time a teenager was half a point better.
World Cup winner Ding Liren in low form
Now, for the first time, the two most populous countries in the world will duel for the chess crown. The exact date when the Indian Gukesh will challenge the Chinese Ding Liren, as well as the location, have not yet been determined. Since his World Cup victory in 2023, the Chinese have fallen into a hole. He is out of shape, has trouble sleeping and is still receiving mental health treatment.
“For me, the World Cup victory was both a blessing and a curse,” Ding told Sportschau in February. He came last at the Weissenhaus tournament in February and second to last at the Grenke Chess Open over Easter.
Although he is the challenger, Gukesh is currently considered the favorite. He could become the second Indian world champion after Vishy Anand. It was Anand who made chess the national sport in India. “Before Vishy, chess was nothing to us,” says Gukesh. “But since he became world champion, he has been a national hero for us. I also started playing chess because of him.”
India makes chess its national sport
Although Anand is still a world-class player, he also promotes Indian talent, including with his crowdfunding initiative “E4”, for which he is looking for wealthy families as sponsors. Indian talent also benefits from the fact that many of them are employed in state-owned companies and receive a basic salary but do not have to perform any work in return.
In order to bring the 2022 Chess Olympics to the country at short notice, the Indian government made $13 million available – unthinkable in Germany. Talented people like Gukesh often only go to school until the age of 10 or 11 and focus entirely on sport at an early age.
A circumstance that many people view critically. The top German talent Vincent Keymer, for example, completed his high school diploma alongside sport. Almost unbelievable for his competitor Gukesh, who is a year younger than him: “I was shocked when I heard that,” he says. “Chess at the highest level takes a lot of time and work. I don’t know how he did it, I couldn’t have done it.”
Keymer sees “different requirements”
Keymer has not regretted his decision. Nevertheless, he speaks of “different requirements” compared to the top Indian talents. I often ask myself how I can further balance and harmonize them.”
So far, Keymer has managed to compensate for these differences quite well. Gukesh was only just ahead of him in the world rankings before the Candidates Tournament. Both were considered equal talents. The fact that this 17-year-old Gukesh from Chennai, India, may be world chess champion at the end of the year also shows how quickly things can rise to the top in chess.