New Delhi: Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh brought home chess glory on Thursday by becoming the youngest world champion in the history of the sport. Gukesh defeated holder Ding Liren of China in the 14th and final game of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 in Singapore.
Entering the final game on the back of a draw in Round 13 and the scores level at 6.5, Gukesh claimed a superb victory in the final round and finished with a score of 7.5 against 6.5 of Liren – the three-time world champion.
Gukesh broke the record of Garry Kasparov to become the youngest world champion in the history of chess. Kasparov, who held the record for almost four decades, claimed the world title at 22 after he got the better of Anatoly Karpov in 1985.
Gukesh’s success underlines India’s emergence as a chess powerhouse. In September, India clinched the gold medal in the men’s and women’s team categories in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Meanwhile, Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agrawal bagged individual gold medals in their respective sections
Besides Gukesh, India are blessed with several young talents who have the making of world champions.
As we celebrate Gukesh’s landmark win, let’s take a look at India’s future champions.
Arjun Erigiasi
(Image: X/@mgd1_esports/Ashwin Subramanian)
Hailing from Warangal, Telangana, Erigiasi is a chess prodigy who earned the prestigious grandmaster title at the tender age of 14 years, 11 months, and 13 days. Erigiasi is currently India’s top-rated player and achieved his peak rating of 2801 earlier this month.
The highly-rated chess player is the fifteenth-highest-rated player in the history of chess and the second Indian to breach the 2800 ELO threshold after legendary Viswanathan Anand. Erigiasi was the chief contributor to India’s historic win at the Chess Olympiad, being the only player on the board to win the first six games.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa
(Photo: X)
The talented 19-year-old Chennai player has all the makings of a world chess champion. A child prodigy, Praggnanandhaa became the youngest international master in history in 2016, aged just 10 years, 10 months, and 19 days. Two years later, he became the Grandmaster aged 12 years, 10 months, and 13 days.
Praggnanandhaa gained fame by defeating world number one Magnus Carlsen five times in 2022, showcasing his prowess against a global superstar. In 2023, the then 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa became the world’s youngest player to reach the Chess World Cup final where he lost to eventual winner Carlsen.
Nihal Sarin
Kerala’s Nihal Sarin, 20, is also one youngster to watch out for in the future. Sarin scripted history in 2018 after he passed the Elo rating of 2600 at just 14 – the third youngest player in history to achieve the feat at that time.
It was in 2018, that he became the 53rd grandmaster of India and the twelfth youngest in history at the time.
Nihal has a prestigious World Under-10 champion title under his belt. He was also part of the Indian team that won the Gold Medal in the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020.
Last year, Nihal broke into the 2700 mark in live rating for the first time.
D Gukesh’s success underlines India’s emergence as a chess powerhouse. Besides the 2024 world chess champion, India are blessed with several young talents who have the making of future world champions. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
