New Delhi: Nine years back, a seasoned chess player hailing from Kozhikode, Kerala, defeated a nine-year-old Chennai boy for the third time of which one clash was at a national championship. Rajnikanth, the boy’s father, casually remarked to winner Anilkumar OT, “Unkala mattum avanu jayikave mudiyala (he’s never been able to beat you).” Both parted ways as they exchanged greetings after the game.
Anilkumar, or OT remembered the conversation, as he’s widely known in the chess circuit, when that father hugged his teary-eyed son who is now 18. That was none other than D Gukesh who embraced his father in a cosy hotel corridor in Singapore, right after he triumphed against Ding Liren of China in the World Chess Championship.
Although beating a little kid a long time back is definitely not something to brag about but trying to find someone with an impeccable head-to-head record against a World Champion is a challenge in itself. This is where OT enters the arena who had white pieces in all three of his wins against Gukesh, as per the FIDE data. “He played quite well,” recalled the seven-time Kerala champion, as quoted by Onmanorama.
Photo – Facebook/fide.com
How did OT meet Gukesh?
Chess veteran OT had met the future world champion at a crossroads in their respective careers. He was 52 back then and was going strong at the national level while Gukesh’s journey barely began. In 2015, OT had crossed his prime period. He attained a peak Elo rating (a measure of a relative skill of a chess player) of 2316 in the same year Gukesh was born (2006).
When the two faced each other, OT’s Elo rating was above 2100 while Gukesh was about 2000, which is still impressive for a boy who started playing the game just two years ago, at 7. Since then, there’s no looking back for Gukesh as he has been rising continuously. By 2017, he already crossed OT’s all-time rating and is current;ly ranked fifth in the world with an Elo rating of 2783.
“It was amazing to see him become the youngest world champion. Both him and Ding played a great match,” OT said. OT was all about smiling when he was made to remember his impeccable record against Gukesh. The 61-year-old is still active in the game and also teaches other than competing.
D Gukesh is on cloud nine after clinching the World Chess Championship title, becoming the youngest ever to do so but… he is yet to beat Anilkumar O.T. who enjoys a clean 100% win record against the World Champion. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
