File photo of Ding Liren and D Gukesh© FIDE

Russian Chess Federation chief Andrei Filatov had accused Ding Liren of losing deliberately.© FIDE

Usually a master of close finishes, Chinese Grandmaster and defending world chess champion, Ding Liren, succumbed to the pressure of a high-stakes game. The result meant Ding failed to defend his title, allowing his opponent, GM D Gukesh from India, to become the youngest-ever winner of the World Chess Championships. When it seemed that the final game was going to end in a draw and the tiebreaks were unavoidable, Ding, in a surprising turn of events, shot himself in the foot. Gukesh, however, didn’t disappoint.

It was an extraordinarily simple blunder from Ding, who had drawn Game 13 on Wednesday despite being in an even trickier situation. Throughout the 14-game series, Ding seemingly had the edge over Gukesh, especially when the clock was not in his favour.

But, Ding crumbled when it mattered the most, the all-important Game 14. To everyone’s surprise, he agreed to swap rooks apparently without noticing that Gukesh would also be able to force the bishops off too. 

It took Ding some time to realise that he had given the winning king and pawn endgame to Gukesh, who was as surprised as anyone. 

“I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder” Ding explained in the post-game press conference.

“At the first moment I didn’t see that I was winning. When I realised that I was winning it was the best moment of my life,” Gukesh told.

Ding Liren painfully acknowledge the loss: “I think I played my best tournament of the year. It could be better, but considering yesterday’s lucky survive it’s a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets.” 

“Since I was seven, I have been living this moment, already for ten years. Every chess player wants to experiment this moment and doesn’t get the chance. I am living my dream”.

Final score: Gukesh 7.5-6.5 Ding Liren

(With FIDE Inputs)

Russian Grandmaster Garry Kasparov congratulated India’s D Gukesh, who broke his record to become the youngest world chess champion on Thursday. Before Gukesh’s feat on Thursday, Kasparov of Russia was the youngest world champion when he won the title at the age of 22, dethroning Anatoly Karpov in 1985. Gukesh, 18, defeated defending champion Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 by winning the 14th and last classical game of their World Championship tie in Singapore. Taking to social media platform X, Kasparov said Gukesh conquered the summit of world chess.

“My congratulations to @DGukesh on his victory today. He has summitted the highest peak of all: making his mother happy!” Kasparov wrote on X.

“Gukesh impressively surmounted every obstacle and opponent in his path, especially considering his age, and nothing more can be asked. My thoughts on the historical world championship lineage with Magnus outside are known, but that is not the story today,” he added in another post.

Gukesh impressively surmounted every obstacle and opponent in his path, especially considering his age, and nothing more can be asked. My thoughts on the historical world championship lineage with Magnus outside are known, but that is not the story today.

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) December 12, 2024

Kasparov also labelled Gukesh’s win as a stepping stone to success for Indian chess and sports in general. 

“India is a nation with an unlimited pool of human talent, combined with the freedom to explore and develop it. The future is bright not only in chess. The summit has been reached and now the goal must be to raise it even higher for the next ascent. Congratulations again. Upward!” the 61-year-old explained.

India is a nation with an unlimited pool of human talent, combined with the freedom to explore and develop it. The future is bright not only in chess. The summit has been reached and now the goal must be to raise it even higher for the next ascent. Congratulations again. Upward!

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) December 12, 2024

By beating Ding, Gukesh became the 18th World Champion in the over century-long history of chess and the youngest after beating Garry Kasparov’s record of winning the title at the age of 22 and heralding the arrival of a new king on the chess horizon.

Gukesh is the second Indian to win the World Chess Championship title, claiming the title in just over a decade after five-time Champion Viswanathan Anand had lost the title to Magnus Carlsen of Norway in Chennai in 2013. Carlsen has abdicated the crown in 2023, paving the way for Ding to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi.

In a winner-takes-all 14th and final game of the World Chess Championship match Ding had steered towards a draw after starting with Reversed Grunfeld variation of Zukertort Opening, the 32-year-old from China made a sensational blunder.

(With IANS Inputs)

India’s 18-year-old grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju scripted history on Thursday as he beat China’s Ding Liren to win the World Chess Championship 2024, becoming the youngest-ever world champion. Not only was he the youngest, Gukesh also became the first-ever teenager to achieve this feat. Gukesh follows in the footsteps of Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand, becoming the second Indian to win the crown and the first since 2012. The 14th and final match seemed to head towards a draw, but a late blunder by Ding Liren to sacrifice his rook handed Gukesh victory.

After the triumph, Gukesh was elated after his decade-long dream turned into reality.

“I was dreaming this moment for the last 10 years. I am happy that I realised the dream (and made it) into reality,” the soft-spoken Chennai-lad told reporters after the historic triumph in Singapore.

“I got a bit emotional because I was not expecting to win. But then I got a chance to press on,” he added.

“Every chess player wants to live this dream. I am living my dream,” said Gukesh.

Speaking on his opponent, Gukesh added”To me Ding is a real world champion. He fought like a true champion and I’m sorry for Ding and team. I would like to thank my opponent.”

Regarding his parents’ contributions, Gukesh revealed, “The dream of winning world chess championship is bigger for them than for me.”

By beating Ding, Gukesh is the 18th World Champion in the over century-long history of chess and the youngest after beating Garry Kasparov’s record of winning the title at the age of 21 and heralding the arrival of a new king on the chess horizon.

Gukesh is the second Indian to win the World Chess Championship title, claiming the title in just over a decade after five-time Champion Viswanathan Anand had lost the title to Magnus Carlsen of Norway in Chennai in 2013. Carlsen has abdicated the crown in 2023, paving the way for Ding to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Having battled it out for 13 games over three weeks, Ding was looking forward to the rapid and blitz tiebreakers as had effectively countered the aggressive tactics of the young Indian challenger to steer the game towards a drawish position.

But the 32-year-old China made a sensational blunder when he moved his rook, leading it to be trapped and lose the game as Gukesh had an extra pawn in the king pawn ending.

Gukesh nearly leapt out of his chair, took a pause, settled his nerves, claimed the rook sealed the victory and claimed the crowd.

(With IANS Inputs)

File photo of D Gukesh.© X (Twitter)

World Chess Championship 2024 LIVE, D Gukesh vs Ding Liren© AFP

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh is on the cusp of dethroning Ding Liren of China at the World Chess Championship in Singapore. With the series tied at 6-6 after 12 games, both GMs showed incredible concentration in Game 13, considering the circumstances, to force a final game, which will be played on Thursday. Despite being outplayed by Gukesh in the 68-move game on Wednesday, Ding dodged several bullets with a mixture of excellent defensive skills combined with a lot of good luck. While the draw was a missed opportunity on Gukesh’s part, the world number two will have another bite at the cherry, and he’ll be hoping to make it count this time around.

Who is D Gukesh?

Gukesh Dommaraju, commonly known as D Gukesh, was born in Chennai, India on 29 May, 2006. His father, Dr. Rajinikanth, is an ear, nose and throat surgeon, while his mother Dr. Padma is a microbiologist.

Gukesh, who hails from a Telugu family, picked up chess at the age of seven, practising for one hour, three days a week. After impressing his chess teachers, he started competiting in tournaments on weekends.

Gukesh clinched his first accoloade at the Under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015. That triumph was followed by a World Youth Chess Championships in 2018 in the Under 12 category.

At the tender age of 12, he won five gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championships in the U-12 individual rapid and blitz, U-12 team rapid and blitz and U-12 individual classical formats.

In March 2017, he earned the title of International Master in March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open. Aged 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Gukesh is the third-youngest GM of all-time.

However, 2023 was the year when Gukesh announced himself to the world. In August, he became the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2750.

A month later, Gukesh officially surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian chess player, ending the latter’s 37-year reign at the top.

He continued his upward trajectory in 2024, becoming the youngest ever winner of the Candidates, with the tournament earning him a seat in the World Championship against Ding Liren.

In September, he helped India clinch a first-ever Chess Olympiad gold, teaming up with the likes of Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi.

If Gukesh beats Ding in Game 14, he will become only the second world chess champion from India after Anand, who won it four times (2007t, 2008, 2010, 2012).

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh tried his best but could not overcome a resilient Ding Liren of China and had to settle for a draw after 68 moves in the 13th and penultimate game of the World Chess Championship here on Wednesday. With the scores tied at 6.5-6.5 and only one game of classical chess to go, it is likely that the match will be extended to the tie-break stage where games of shorter duration will decide the winner. As was expected, the 18-year-old Gukesh went for the King pawn on his opening move and yet again faced defending champion Liren’s first-choice opening in French defense.

The Chinese spent a lot of time in the opening phase of the game when Gukesh came out with a novel idea early, but it was clear right from the beginning that there was little for the white.

The middle game saw the exchange of a couple of minor pieces that gave Gukesh’s white only a small advantage optically. And as the game progressed, it was clear that the exchange of pawns on the queen side will only lead to an equal endgame.

Gukesh, knowing fully well that this could be his last chance with the favourable colour, left no stone unturned as he kept looking for more but Liren kept his cool and traded pieces when necessary to reach a queen-plus-rook endgame that was just level.

The players, nevertheless, fought on for a long time. The pieces changed hands, and eventually, it was a queen and rook plus pawns on the board.

Gukesh tried everything in the book to keep pushing for more, even in the theoretical drawn endgame, but Liren was up to the task.

The game was eventually drawn to a two versus three rook-and-pawns endgame, and Gukesh played on till there was no life left in the position.

Liren held fort till the very end and will go into the last game of the match as favourite.

Gukesh said after the extremely tense game that things are really getting exciting as the championship enters the most crucial phase.

Gukesh, when asked how he was feeling with just one game left before the tie-break of shorter duration kicks in to determine the winner, said: “As close as the match gets, it only gets exciting. Quite excited (about the 14th game), but of course, it’s an important game. I will try to do my best.

“As the games get less and less, there is more at stake, obviously. I came for a fight, I was feeling fresh (today), I was feeling confident. And I also had this cool idea prepared, so I was quite excited to play,” added Gukesh.

Liren conceded he was “very tired” after the game.

“Firstly, very tired after a long game. Secondly, I need to decide what’s the strategy for the next game, it’s a golden game,” said the defending champion.

The moves: D Gukesh vs Ding Liren 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.a3 Be7 8.Be3 Nb6 9.Nf4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc4 11.Bxc4 dxc4 12.Nge2 b5 13.0-0 0-0 14.Nc3 Rb8 15.Nh5 f5 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Qf3 Qe8 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6 19.Qe2 Qg6 20.f3 Rf8 21.Rad1 Ne7 22.Bf4 Rb6 23.Bc7 Rb7 24.Bd6 Re8 25.Bxe7 Rexe7 26.Qe5 a6 27.d5 exd5 28.Qxd5+ Qe6 29.Qc5 Re8 30.Rde1 Qf7 31.Ne4 Rf8 32.Nd6 Rc7 33.Qe5 Qf6 34.Qd5+ Kh8 35.Re5 Re7 36.Rfe1 Rxe5 37.Rxe5 h6 38.Qc5 Bd7 39.Ne4 Qf4 40.Re7 Bf5 41.Qd4 Rg8 42.h3 Qc1+ 43.Kf2 Bxe4 44.Rxe4 c3 45.bxc3 Qxa3 46.Kg3 Qb3 47.Re7 a5 48.Rb7 Qc4 49.Qe5 Qc6 50.Qxb5 Qxc3 51.Ra7 Qe1+ 52.Kh2 Qb4 53.Qxb4 axb4 54.Rb7 Ra8 55.Rxb4 Ra2 56.Kg3 Kh7 57.Rb5 Kg6 58.f4 Kf6 59.Kf3 Rc2 60.g3 Rc3+ 61.Kg4 Ra3 62.h4 Rc3 63.Rb6+ Kf7 64. f5 h5+ 65. Kf4 Rc4+ 66. Kf3 Rc3+ 67. Kf4 Rc4+ 68. Kf3 Rc3+ Match drawn.

Indian Challenger D Gukesh is obviously disappointed to have lost the advantage in the closing stage of the World Championships by surrendering the 12th game to Ding Liren, and admitted that he had many chances in the second-half of the intriguing contest. With just two games to go, the championship match is heading towards an exciting finish. Both players are tied on six points each. “This game is a bit of a disappointment. Luckily I have a rest day tomorrow, I will just try to play good games,” Gukesh said after losing the 12th game. The Indian teenager though said he and the defending champion are displaying quality chess in the second half of the match.

“In the second half I had chances in many games. Today was a bad game, I won’t draw too much out of it, we both are playing better than the first half but I think I had more chances in the second half.

Speaking about the game in general, Gukesh said he thought he was okay, “I was comfortable after the opening but then after his 16th move I was not sure”. not happy with his 17th move the Indian said it was just a “mistake”.

Speaking about his new opening choice, a reverse Benonin, Gukesh said, “I was prepared for a few moves, I didn’t really exactly remember all the details, but I was aware of this position.” Speaking about the new match situation that puts both Liren and him on six points apiece, the Indian said, “Obviously it’s not pleasant to lose this game. Yesterday also it could have gone either way. At least the scores are still tied, there are two more games remaining, so let’s see.” Liren said he took a lot of rest after the debacle on Sunday.

“Yesterday was a difficult game to deal with since I was much better at one point and I just spent too little time on the critical moments. I spoiled a very promising position,” he said.

On his preparation, the Chinese admitted he was surprised again “I was caught by surprise in the opening I knew something but not this specific line. I put pressure on my opponent throughout the game and did not slip like last game.

“In the previous games it was not so clear I was also under the danger of being worse but today I realised I was much better,” said Liren when asked about not pressing enough in the earlier games when he had chances.

Speaking about what revitalized his energy and how his trainer and mother helped, “Well (Richard) Rapport sent me a file called strike back, and my mom said ‘you did it last time and you can do it again’.” PTI VS AT AT