D Gukesh during an interview.© YouTube/@ChessBase India Clips
The entire India is talking about 18-year-old chess Grandmaster D Gukesh after his historic achievement at World Championship. The Indian GM became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion with his hard-fought win over China’s Ding Liren in the 14-match contest. The final game turned out to be the decider after both the players were tied at the score of 6.5 going into the match. The nation is now curious to know more and more about Gukesh, who has etched his name in the history books. From the achievements of the player to the prize money he won, fans are taking interest in everything that is related to him.
An old video of the star player is going viral on social media in which he answers a question related to his personal life. In the clip, Gukesh was asked whether he had a girlfriend. He reacted to the question with an innocent smile and said, “No, this is not on.”
When asked about his opinions on whether having a girlfriend will impact his game, Gukesh said, “Probably it does take some time away from chess. I haven’t really thought about it too much. I don’t think this is the right age for those things. It might not make a huge difference, but it still takes some time away from chess.”
The 18-year-old from Chennai capitalised on a blunder by Ding in the winner-takes-all 14th game to dethrone the champion, winning the match 7.5 to 6.5 and becoming only the second Indian to win the World Chess Champion.
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.
(With IANS Inputs)
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