Dommaraju Gukesh, a 17-year-old Indian grandmaster, made history Sunday: He won the Candidates Tournament in Toronto, held to select the challenger for the World Chess Championship in the classical time control. With that achievement, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the title match.
Garry Kasparov, the former world champion, previously held the record; he became the challenger for the crown in 1983 at age 20.
Minutes after his victory, Gukesh was tired but understandably happy. In an interview, he said that his success was a surprise. “The way that I handled myself during the event and the way that I played my games — it was really something that I am happy about,” he said. “The mental state that I achieved wasn’t something that I had really expected.” But, he added, “I think that I have really improved in the last one year and in the last few months.”
Gukesh will play Ding Liren, the reigning champion from China, in a title match. The International Chess Federation, the game’s governing body, has not yet announced the site or the dates of the match, but according to its regulations it should take place in November. It will be a best-of-14 match, with a minimum prize fund of 2 million euros (about $2.1 million).
For his victory in the Candidates, Gukesh earned 111,000 euros, or nearly $120,000.
Grandmaster D. Gukesh of India during his Round 14 match against Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura of USA at the FIDE Candidates 2024 chess tournament, in Toronto, Canada, Sunday, April 21, 2024 PTI
There were eight elite players in the competition, including Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the world, and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, No. 7, who was the runner-up in the past two world title matches. Those three players tied for second, a half-point behind Gukesh.
In such a small field, anyone can go on a roll and win, but Gukesh’s victory was still unexpected. Among those who doubted his chances was Magnus Carlsen, a former world champion. “I cannot imagine him winning,” Carlsen said of Gukesh in a video recorded with David Howell, an English grandmaster, just before the competition began. “He is not quite ready yet to make a leap, and I think it is more likely that he has a bad event than a good event,” he added.
Indeed, in Round 7, Gukesh lost badly to Alireza Firouzja of France. But instead of being a breaking point, that defeat turned out to be a watershed moment, as Gukesh explained during a post-tournament news conference.
“If I had to pinpoint a moment where I really felt this could be my moment was probably the seventh game, after I lost to Firouzja,” Gukesh said. “Obviously, I was quite upset after that. But even though I just had a painful loss, I was feeling at my absolute best. Maybe this loss gave me so much motivation.”
It turned out to be the only loss for Gukesh, who won five games and drew the rest.
As the final seconds of the tournament ticked away and it became evident that Gukesh would win, Carlsen admitted on a call with Chess.com, which was streaming the event, that Gukesh was “probably a bit stronger than we realized.”
Becoming so good at such a young age is increasingly the norm. Three of the players in the Candidates — Gukesh, Firouzja and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa — would be eligible to play in the world junior championship this year. For Firouzja, it was already the second time competing in the Candidates.
The tournaments to select the challengers for the overall title and for the women’s world championship were held concurrently for the first time this year. In the women’s event, China continued its recent domination as Tan Zhongyi and Lei Tingjie, the two representatives from that country, led the entire way.
In the end, Tan won easily. She will face Ju Wenjun, the titleholder since 2018, ensuring that regardless of the result, the title will stay in China. For Tan, it will be a chance to regain the crown, which she held the year before Ju won.
The New York Times News Service
