India’s chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju has made India proud by winning the World Chess Championship. 18-year-old Gukesh scripted history after beating China’s Ding Liren in the 14-game World Chess Championship final in Singapore. Gukesh capitalised on a blunder by Ding in the winner-takes-all 14th game to dethrone the reigning champion, winning the match 7.5 to 6.5 to become only the second Indian, after five-time champion Viswanathan Anand, to win the World Chess Championship.
As greetings poured in from across India and the world, he also received a congratulatory message from tech mogul Elon Musk. D Gukesh is the first-ever Indian sportsman to get a message from the world’s richest man on his feat.
Musk expressed his congratulations on X, formerly Twitter, in a reply to Gukesh’s post. “18th @ 18!”, wrote Gukesh, celebrating his win. “Congratulations!” wrote Musk while replying to the post.
Musk’s Congratulations post has received 13K likes and almost 200,000 views.
“Best moment of my life”
Overwhelmed by his victory, Gukesh called it the “best moment of his life.” Ding Liren, while disappointed with his loss, acknowledged Gukesh’s exceptional performance. Chess legend Garry Kasparov also lauded Gukesh, humorously stating, “He has sumitted the highest peak of all: making his mother happy.”
Gukesh has surpassed Garry Kasparov’s record to become the youngest-ever World Chess Champion.
Brings back World Champion crown to India after 11 years
Gukesh will wear the world crown 11 years after Vishwanathan Anand was dethroned in the 2013 World Chess Championship. Incidentally, Gukesh’s triumph was bolstered by the mentorship of GM Anand and his WestBridge Anand Chess Academy.