Gukesh D - Youngest World Chess Champion

Why in news?

Recently, 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh won the title of World Chess Champion in Singapore.

Key points:

• Gukesh D defeated China's defending champion Ding Liren 7.5-6.5 in the final.
• Gukesh has become the first player in the world to win the title at the age of 18.
• Earlier in 1985, Russia's Garry Kasparov won this title at the age of 22.
• The final of the championship started on 25 November.
• Till 11 December, 13 games were played between the two; the score here was tied at 6.5-6.5.
• Gukesh won the 14th game and took a lead of one point, making the score 7.5-6.5.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi congratulated Gukesh D on becoming the youngest World Chess Champion.

• This was the first time in the 138-year history of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) that two Asian players were face to face for the title of World Champion.
• For a win in the classical game, the player got Rs 1.69 crore.
  • Gukesh got Rs 5.07 crore for winning 3 games and Liren got Rs 3.38 crore for winning 2 games.
• The remaining prize money was divided equally between the two players, i.e. Gukesh got Rs 11.45 crore and Liren got Rs 9.75 crore.

D. Gukesh

• The full name of Gukesh D is Dommaraju Gukesh.
• He was born on 7 May 2006 in Chennai.
• He started playing chess at the age of 7.
• He was initially coached by Bhaskar Nagaiya.
• Nagaiya has been an international chess player and is a home tutor of chess in Chennai.
• After this, Vishwanathan Anand coached Gukesh along with giving him information about the game.
• Gukesh's father is a doctor and mother is a microbiologist by profession.

International Chess Federation (FIDE):

• It is the governing body of the game of chess and connects many national chess associations around the world.
• It is the organization that controls all international events related to chess.
• It was founded on July 20, 1924 in Paris.
  • This day is celebrated as International Chess Day.
• Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland.

World Chess Championship

• It is a platform where the best chess players in the world showcase their talent.
• It is an event that decides the world champion in the standard or classical game.
• It was officially started in the year 1886.