Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, Defeats Ding Liren To Become Youngest World Chess Champion Ever

Gukesh Dommaraju defeated Ding Liren in the 14th and final game of the World Chess Championship in Singapore Thursday to become the youngest champion in the history of classical chess. The 18-year-old is also the first champion from India, a massive triumph for a nation that has gained significant notoriety in the game in recent years. 

“I’ve been dreaming about this and living this moment since I was 6 or 7,” Gukesh said after the game. “I have been living this moment for more than 10 years. Every chess player wants to live this moment and to be one of them is … the only way to express is: I’m living my dream.”

After nearly three weeks of intense competition, Gukesh and Ding were tied 6.5-6.5 entering the final game, and a draw would have forced a series of tiebreaker games Friday in a shorter time control known as rapid. This would have greatly favored Ding, the reigning champion who defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in rapid tiebreakers to win the vacant title in 2023. Gukesh, known as an elite calculator, has far more experience in classical formats and isn’t known to succeed with less time on the clock.

Entering the match, Gukesh’s vulnerability in shorter time controls was so notorious that it seemed to play a part in Ding’s long-term strategy. The Chinese champion spent most of his 14 games trying to force Gukesh into drawn positions, prolonging the match and keeping the overall score even. When Gukesh took his first lead of the match by winning the 11th game, Ding struck right back to win the 12th and salvaged a draw in the 13th to keep the match tied.

As the final game winded down to a handful of pieces for each player Thursday, Gukesh had a one-pawn advantage that seemed unlikely to give him a winning chance. The game was well on its way to another draw until Ding made a shocking blunder with his rook on the 55th move, forcing Gukesh into a trade that put the Indian challenger in a winning endgame. The expression on the 18-year-old’s face was one of surprise, then joy, as he realized that he was about to become world champion. After realizing his mistake, Ding held his head in his hands, fatigued and distraught, before eventually resigning.

“I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder,” Ding said after the game. “His facial expression showed that he was very happy and excited and I realized I made a blunder. It took some time to realize it.”

In the wake of Magnus Carlsen’s stunning decision to vacate the championship several years ago, the state of classical chess has been in flux. The last two championship matches have been strange, inconsistent and weakened by the fact that the best chess player in the world did not appear in them.

But for one brief moment Thursday, any argument about the current state of chess melted away at the sight of Gukesh, the 18-year-old phenom, coming to terms with his outstanding accomplishment in real time. Even in a notoriously stoic game, his excitement was palpable as he made his championship-winning move and walked away from the table, failing to conceal a broad smile. 

“I probably got so emotional because I did not really expect to win from that position,” Gukesh said. “But then suddenly after Rf2, I saw [the game] was actually done. I was already preparing myself to go through that huge tiebreak fight and suddenly, it was all over, and I had achieved my dream. I’m not someone who shows a lot of emotions, but I think this one can be forgiven.”

Gukesh is the leader of an elite Indian movement in chess, a massive group of talented young players many consider to be the future. For several years, he was one of many Indian players, alongside Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa and others, touted as the next great challenger to the most powerful figures in the game. The future just arrived.