India’s grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju reacts after successful towards China’s chess grandmaster Ding Liren in recreation 14 of the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore on Thursday.
Simon Lim/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
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Simon Lim/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Gukesh Dommaraju, the 18-year-old chess prodigy from India, has unseated China’s Ding Liren to turn out to be the brand new world chess champion.
Born in 2006, Dommaraju is the youngest world champion of all time, a file beforehand held by Garry Kasparov, who grew to become world champion in 1985 at age 22.
Dommaraju secured the win Thursday in Singapore after a decent match between the 2 grandmasters that appeared on the verge of a tie.
“Ding’s opening choice was expected, but Gukesh played a variation that nobody expected,” Worldwide Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich stated.
The federation described many of the gameplay between the 2 as having “near-perfect accuracy” with issues primed to go for a draw.
However in a transfer to drive the draw, Liren made a crucial error.
“I was totally in shock when I realized I made the blunder,” Ding stated in a postgame press convention of his resolution to sacrifice certainly one of his rooks with the intention to seize certainly one of Dommaraju’s.
“I think I played maybe my best tournament of the year. I could be better, but considering yesterday’s lucky [survival], it’s a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets,” Ding stated.
Within the ultimate moments of the match, one can nearly see the precise second when Dommaraju realizes he now has a gap for victory. A cautious smile creeps throughout his face and he briefly leaves the desk to clutch his chest and exhale.
Upon his return to the desk, Ding performs a ultimate transfer and shakes Dommaraju’s hand in admission of his defeat.
{The teenager} lined his face and cried with pleasure, barely in a position to shake the arms of well-wishers who had moved to congratulate him.
Dommaraju stated that originally, he could not imagine his luck that the 32-year-old chess champion had performed into his personal defeat.
“Since the time I started playing chess … I’ve been dreaming about living this moment for more than 10 years,” Dommaraju stated within the press convention. “Every chess player wants to experience this moment, and very few get the chance.”
However Dommaraju spoke with deep respect for Ding, hailing the Chinese language participant as a legend within the sport.
“We all know who Ding is. He has been one of the best players in history for several years,” Dommaraju stated, acknowledging Ding’s struggles in video games over latest years. “Seeing how much pressure he had to face and the kind of fight he gave in this match, it shows what a true champion he is.”