In the end, after a fortnight of fierce battle, plays and counter-plays, it had come down to the 55th move in Game 14 of the World Chess Championship. Ding Liren moved his rook to f2, and D Gukesh gawked at the board and pounced like a hawk. A couple of moves later, the Indian became the youngest-ever world champion in the history of chess. Dilly ding, Ding done.
For the first time during the World Championship match, Gukesh acted like a teenager. As he rearranged the pieces on the board, the 18-year-old started to sob. Then, he would go and cry in his father’s arms. The magnitude of his success demanded the emotions to be recollected in the playing arena, not in tranquillity. The tears of joy were well earned.
The ‘suitable boy’ of Indian chess has managed to change the narrative by dint of his talent, hard work and grace. The world of chess stood up to applaud the new champion, and Vladimir Kramnik was a case in isolation. Even the legendary Garry Kasparov eventually fell for the young Indian.
The six-time world champion, arguably the greatest in the history of the game, took this World Championship with a pinch of salt. He picked Gukesh as the favourite, but didn’t see it as a World Championship because the “world’s best player”, Magnus Carlsen, wasn’t playing. After the match, he waxed lyrical about Gukesh’s achievement.
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“My congratulations to @DGukesh on his victory today. He has summitted the highest peak of all: making his mother happy!” Kasparov posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Kasparov’s first world title came in 1985. He was 22 years, six months and 27 days, and until yesterday, he was the youngest world champion. Gukesh surpassed him. “Gukesh impressively surmounted every obstacle and opponent in his path, especially considering his age, and nothing more can be asked,” wrote Kasparov. “My thoughts on the historical world championship lineage with Magnus outside are known, but that is not the story today.”
Throughout the match, both the players had to face criticism for not living up to the level of a World Championship. Carlsen, particularly, had been critical of the quality of chess on offer from Ding and Gukesh. Kasparov begged to differ.
“The level of play was quite high, at least equal to the previous match,” posted the great man. “Ding showed great resistance. As for the blunders, which world championship, or world champion, was without them? I had my share, and recall the double-blunder in Carlsen-Anand 2014, g6. Matches take a toll.”
And the 61-year-old grandmaster linked Gukesh’s triumph to India’s rise as a nation. “India is a nation with an unlimited pool of human talent, combined with the freedom to explore and develop it,” he wrote. “The future is bright not only in chess. The summit has been reached and now the goal must be to raise it even higher for the next ascent. Congratulations again. Upward!”
Carlsen, too, eventually praised Gukesh. “It’s an incredible achievement,” the Norwegian maestro said on Take Take Take’s YouTube channel. “You can say all the things about the way Ding played, but he actually did raise his level during this match and yet, for all we have said about how we probably did expect even more for Gukesh. It feels like he has had more.”
This has been Indian chess’ annus mirabilis. The Olympiad dominance was celebrated and Gukesh’s win was the crowning glory. The newly crowned world champion, along with Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin, will keep the country’s flag flying high in this sport going ahead. “The era of ‘Vishy’s (Viswanathan Anand) children’ is truly upon us,” said Kasparov.
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