“End of chess”: Former champion Vladimir Kramnik describes Gukesh’s victory over Liren as a “childish one-move mistake”

Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik has launched a scathing attack on the outcome of the World Chess Championship after 18-year-old D Gukesh claimed a historic victory over defending champion Ding Liren in the 14th game. Gukesh’s triumph not only earned him the world title, but also made him the youngest player in history to achieve this, surpassing Garry Kasparov’s record set in 1985.

However, Kramnik, known for his critical opinions, was less than impressed with the way the championship was decided, particularly the blunder that cost Ding the title.

After Gukesh secured victory with a final score of 7.5-6.5, Kramnik expressed his dismay on social media, calling it “the end of chess as we know it.”

Kramnik went a step further and described Ding’s mistake as “childish” and stated: “Never before has the world title been decided by a childish mistake in one move.”

The mistake, which occurred in the final game after five hours of play, proved crucial and cost Ding both the game and his world title.

Kramnik’s comments were not limited to Game 14. Earlier in the championship, he had expressed concerns about the overall quality of the game between the two competitors.

After Game 6, he complained: “To be honest, I’m very disappointed in today’s game. Even Game 5 wasn’t of a particularly high standard, but today – for a professional – it was a really weak game by both players. It’s very disappointing.”

Kramnik criticized both players’ lack of understanding of basic strategic concepts, saying, “It’s such a strange game.” Both players made mistake after mistake, strategic mistakes. As if they didn’t understand the meaning of the position.” His frustration continued and he said, “Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but it’s pretty simple!” Of course, they’re both great players and great calculators. They do fantastic math.”