17-Year-Old Indian Chess Prodigy Gukesh Makes History, Becomes Youngest Challenger for World Title

The Indian top-grade chess player D Gukesh, who was 17 years old, previously wrote history as the youngest challenger to the world title at the Candidates Chess Tournament here. He will face off against the incumbent champion, the Chinese player Ding Liren, in late 2023 for the high-stakes title.

Gukesh earned nine out of 14 possible points and, at the end, had a draw against the American player Hikaru Nakamura. He not only emulated his Indian predecessor Viswanathan Anand who had won the candidates but also went ahead and become the second Indian to do so. The fifth-time world champion Vishwanathan Anand win was in 2014.

Gukesh managed to draw Nakamura on a crucial day of the tournament, but he was unable to exert any pressure on Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana, who engaged in a drawn and lengthy struggle that lasted 109 moves until the players decided to call it quits. At most, this was an exciting day.

For a little while, it appeared as though Gukesh might prevail in today's match when Fabiano Caruana erred on his 41st move, giving Ian Nepomniachtchi the opportunity to close the gap and maybe level the match. However, Caruana triumphed when she subsequently reimbursed Nepo. But in the end, the game took a "mood swing," and Nepo and Caruana drew once again. Gukesh is becoming more and more noticeable since his victory of becoming the third youngest ever in chess history to earn the Grandmaster title at the age of 12.