New Delhi: Dommaraju Gukesh is not just an Indian teenager living up to his dream, but now a global youth icon who has shot to prominence after the landmark achievement in Singapore on December 12, 2024. At the age of 18 years, eight months and 14 days, the boy from Chennai turned to be the youngest ever chess player to claim the prestigious World Chess Championship after his thrilling win over China’s Ding Liren in the 14th and final round of the classical format.
As many in the country felt jubilant to hear the success of a youngster with sheer brilliance, somewhere in Europe a decry clattered as the 18th world champion unheralded in Singapore. Perhaps Vladimir Kramnik was in a denial mode to see Gukesh being crowned as the new world champion, many were left dumbstruck with the statement of the former Russian world champion.
The 49-year-old Kramnik expressed his disappointment over Ding Liren’s blunder of moving the rook from f4 to f2, which caused the exchanging of rooks between the two finalists followed by the bishop exchange, leaving the Chinese in pawn-down moment. It was that error that cost him the championship and shot Gukesh to prominence.
The result certainly didn’t sit well with the Russian as went on to lambast on his X handle, mentioning:
“No comment. Sad. End of chess as we know it.”
No comment. Sad. End of chess as we know it
— Vladimir Kramnik (@VBkramnik) December 12, 2024
Not that Kramnik has no right to express his dissent over the quality of chess, but it was the sentiment many in his country were vociferous about. Russia Chess Federation president Andrei Filatov went on to demand investigation from FIDE (global governing body for chess) as he alleged Liren of deliberately losing the game.
The Russian animosity against India
Well this isn’t surprising to see Russia finding India’s win unfathomable as they once ruled the world of chess and has produced many world champions significantly. Since 2006, no Russian has managed to claim the world title with Vladimir Kramnik himself being the last to reign supremacy. Maybe the idea of having India as a challenger isn’t something for the European country to digest.
Even during the Chess Olympiad in September in Budapest, where India won two gold medals, Kramnik, who was the coach of Uzbekistan at the team event, lodged a complaint against India that mobile devices were recording the match during the Round 9 between Gukesh and Nodirbek Abdusattarov.
Kramnik termed Liren’s blunder as a childish move might have garnered over million views on his X post, but then did the senses prevail here? Maybe India’s five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand’s point of view can shed light on the moment as he cited his own failures to underscore that any great player can attempt what Liren did in the 14th round.
“Usually when you put someone under pressure, blunders happen and blunders are never pretty. I have lost games you can’t believe a strong player can play. Most world championships are decided by these moments,” Anand said on News9 Live show ‘Game On’.
It appears to be strange because no other international Grandmaster has questioned Gukesh’s victory as the opposition other than the Russians.
As Kramnik felt it was the end of the chess, he contrastingly indicates toward the ascent of a new powerhouse in chess.
As many in India felt jubilant to hear the success of Gukesh with sheer brilliance, somewhere in Europe a decry clattered as the 18th world champion unheralded in Singapore. Russian Grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik lambasted Ding Liren’s blunder and called it ‘end of chess’. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
