Teenager Gukesh Dommaraju of India became the youngest chess world champion by beating defending champion Ding Liren of China on Thursday (Dec 12) in a dramatic turn of events in the last game of a 14-game match in Singapore.
The 18th world champion is at age 18 four years younger than Garry Kasparov, who had been the youngest world champion since 1985 when he beat Anatoly Karpov.
The World Chess Championship this year, held in Singapore for the first time, kicked off on Nov 20 at the Equarius Hotel in Resorts World Sentosa.
Gukesh won Thursday’s game with the black pieces after Ding wilted under pressure and blundered in what commentators considered to be a comfortable position, snatching the title with a final score of 7.5-6.5.
The match was a 14-round long-time “classical” event with a prize fund of US$2.5 million.
Gukesh had qualified in April by winning the Candidates tournament.
World number one Magnus Carlsen, who had been world champion since 2013, relinquished his title in 2022, citing a lack of motivation.
Source: CNA
