Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh is on the cusp of dethroning Ding Liren of China at the World Chess Championship in Singapore. With the series tied at 6-6 after 12 games, both GMs showed incredible concentration in Game 13, considering the circumstances, to force a final game, which will be played on Thursday. Despite being outplayed by Gukesh in the 68-move game on Wednesday, Ding dodged several bullets with a mixture of excellent defensive skills combined with a lot of good luck. While the draw was a missed opportunity on Gukesh’s part, the world number two will have another bite at the cherry, and he’ll be hoping to make it count this time around.
Who is D Gukesh?
Gukesh Dommaraju, commonly known as D Gukesh, was born in Chennai, India on 29 May, 2006. His father, Dr. Rajinikanth, is an ear, nose and throat surgeon, while his mother Dr. Padma is a microbiologist.
Gukesh, who hails from a Telugu family, picked up chess at the age of seven, practising for one hour, three days a week. After impressing his chess teachers, he started competiting in tournaments on weekends.
Gukesh clinched his first accoloade at the Under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015. That triumph was followed by a World Youth Chess Championships in 2018 in the Under 12 category.
At the tender age of 12, he won five gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championships in the U-12 individual rapid and blitz, U-12 team rapid and blitz and U-12 individual classical formats.
In March 2017, he earned the title of International Master in March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open. Aged 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, Gukesh is the third-youngest GM of all-time.
However, 2023 was the year when Gukesh announced himself to the world. In August, he became the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2750.
A month later, Gukesh officially surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian chess player, ending the latter’s 37-year reign at the top.
He continued his upward trajectory in 2024, becoming the youngest ever winner of the Candidates, with the tournament earning him a seat in the World Championship against Ding Liren.
In September, he helped India clinch a first-ever Chess Olympiad gold, teaming up with the likes of Arjun Erigaisi, Pentala Harikrishna, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi.
If Gukesh beats Ding in Game 14, he will become only the second world chess champion from India after Anand, who won it four times (2007t, 2008, 2010, 2012).
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