Chess Candidates 2024: Who is Gukesh Dommaraju? Know all about youngest FIDE Candidates winner
Chess Candidates 2024: In the 14th round, Gukesh drew with fellow contender Hikaru Nakamura of America to win him the contender spot for the World Chess Championship.
Chess Candidates 2024: India's 17-year-old chess grandmaster, Gukesh Dommaraju, created history on Monday, April 22, by becoming the youngest player to win the FIDE Candidates tournament in Toronto.
Gukesh finished on top of the table with nine points after 14 matches and became only the second Indian to qualify for the World Chess Championship final after five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand. At age 17, Gukesh has become the first teenager to reach the final summit for chess's biggest prize.
Here is all you need to know about Gukesh Dommaraju the youngest FIDE Candidates winner —
Who is Gukesh Dommaraju?
Gukes hails from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His father, Dr. Rajnikanth, is an ENT specialist, and his mother, Padma, is a microbiologist. Gukesh started his chess journey at the age of seven, as he was introduced to the game in school and became a FIDE-rated player within six months of learning the game.
First international success
He won the U-9 Asian Schools Chess Championship in 2015, which was his first international success, earning him the Candidate Master (CM) title.
Becoming the International Master (IM)
Gukesh also won the U-12 World Youth Chess Championship in 2018 and bagged 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 the U-12 individual classical formats. He also completed the requirements for the International Master (IM) title in March 2018.
Second youngest Grandmaster (GM)
Gukesh became the second youngest GM at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days in January 2019, narrowly missing Sergey Karjakin by 17 days. However, the record was later broken by Abhimanyu Mishra, making Gukesh the third youngest GM at the moment.
Beating Carlsen
Gukesh became the youngest player at the age of 16 to beat Magnus Carlsen by winning a game at the Aim Chess Rapid tournament in 2022.
Carrying the momentum
In 2023, Gukesh became the youngest player to reach the rating of 2750, surpassing Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player for the first time in 37 years.
Journey to the Candidates Tournament
With the end of the FIDE Circuit in December 2023, Gukesh qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament, becoming the third youngest player, after Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen, to play in the Candidates tournament.
Who did he beat in FIDE Candidates 2024 final?
In the 14th round, Gukesh drew with fellow contender Hikaru Nakamura of America to win him the contender spot for the World Chess Championship.
Who is he up against in World Chess Championship final?
In the final, Gukesh will be facing the reigning champion, China’s Ding Liren.
Whose record did he break to become the youngest contender?
Gukesh has broken the long-standing record of the legendary chess player, Russia's Garry Kasparov, who won the contender title at the age of 20 back in the 1983–84 season.
Image Courtesy: PTI, X/@FIDE_chess(Michal Walusza), Reuters.