Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, becomes the youngest world chess champion in history

India’s 18-year-old prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju capped his meteoric rise by becoming the youngest world chess champion in history after defeating Ding Liren 7½-6½ in a thrilling championship in Singapore.

The teenager, already the youngest challenger to fight for the world title, picked up the point he needed in the final of the best-of-14 classics to beat defending champion Ding and secure his share of the US$2.5 million prize money -Dollar.

He becomes India’s second world chess champion, after five-time champion Viswanathan Anand, who last won the world title in 2013, and breaks Garry Kasparov’s previous record as the sport’s youngest ever world champion. In 1985, Kasparov deposed 22-year-old Anatoly Karpov.

Gukesh was the in-form player going into the tournament, but it was a tough battle throughout, with the players tied on 6½ points each and one classic game left. Ding made a mistake late in the 14th game on a move that gave Gukesh the title-winning point and prevented a tiebreaker.

Ding Liren (R) and Gukesh Dommaraju compete in Game 1 on November 25, 2024. (Roslan Rahmanroslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

They were remarkable years for the teenager, the son of a surgeon and a microbiologist. Until summer 2022 he was only considered a junior. A grandmaster at the age of 12, seven months and seven days (the second youngest at the time), he became the third youngest player to achieve a FIDE rating of 2,700 and the youngest to achieve a FIDE rating of 2,750. At the age of 17, he defied the odds in the final qualifying round for the world title, beating more celebrated players in the Candidates Tournament to secure a title shot against Ding.

Ding, ranked 22nd in the world, had a difficult time as world champion and took a nine-month break from sport last year for mental health reasons. Before this championship, he had not won a classical match since January and had only played 44 classical matches since winning the world title in April 2023.

He managed well, putting in strong performances in Singapore and scoring a surprise win in the opening game. Another win in the 12th game resulted in a draw. It seemed like Gukesh had secured a significant win in Game 11 after a series of draws between the two before Ding hit back in Game 12 on Monday. A draw in the penultimate game brought both within touching distance of the trophy.

(Top photo: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)