He created a sensation this year by becoming the youngest winner of the prestigious candidates tournament. At 18, Indian chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju is a great rival to China’s Ding Liren for the next world title.
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Some, like the American grandmaster of Filipino origin Wesley So, even make him the favorite for the championships organized in Singapore from November 25 to December 13. The young man wants to be more modest.
“ I don’t believe in predictions or favorites “, he told the press earlier this month. “ I’m focused, I try to be at my best every day and play well. I just want to take advantage of the opportunity “.
Since the start of his career, Gukesh Dommaraju has achieved every milestone. Having become the youngest Indian grandmaster in history at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days, it was only seventeen days before he broke the world record for precocity at this level.
Often shy and reserved in public, he surprised his admirers during the 2024 edition of the Chess Olympiad by publishing a video in which he celebrates by dancing the two gold medals won by India during this event.
Although he spends most of his time behind a set, the player recently confessed to being a fan of the American television series “Friends”.
During major championships, Gukesh Dommaraju is a model of patience and concentration, imperturbable in his costume, his face marked with a tilak, this stain of white ash which marks his Hindu faith.
“Passing the baton”
In 2022, the young man achieved his first feat by beating American number 1 Fabiano Caruana, then did it again by winning over the reigning world champion, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen.
Indian chess legend, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has been following his journey since a very young age.
“ Gukesh is a boy with a head on his shoulders “, he told the television channel NDTV. “ I am very proud of his phenomenal career. I feel like I’ve passed the baton to him “.
Viswanathan Anand, 54, warned the young prodigy of the risks of complacency: “ He is intelligent enough to understand that world championships are won, they are not awarded “.
During the last Olympics, he won nine of his ten games, largely contributing to the victory of his national team.
Born to a microbiologist mother and a doctor father, Gukesh began acting at the age of seven. His father Rajnikanth took him to see Viswanathan Anand when he won the world title in Chennai in 2013.
The upcoming confrontation of the young Indian against the Chinese Ding, 32, reminded fans of the very political tone taken by the world championship between the American Bobby Fischer and the Soviet Boris Spassky in 1972, in the middle of the Cold War.
Soldiers from India and China, great rivals on the Asian continent, face each other along their disputed border in the Himalayas. An agreement signed in October between the two countries reduced tension.
The duel of the two great masters could contribute to this appeasement. On the eve of their duel, the Chinese title holder praised the “ strategic understanding » from his young opponent.