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Indian chess grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju beats Chinese reigning champion Ding Liren
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest world chess champion in history after beating reigning champion China's Ding Liren on Thursday.
Dommaraju, at 18, is four years younger than Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov when he won the title in 1985 at age 22.
The Chennai prodigy has long been a superstar in the chess world, having achieved chess grandmaster status at the age of 12.
But he was considered the challenger for the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship held in Singapore this year.
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Dommaraju and Ding played in the first round of the championship last month
Playing on black, Dommaraju won the match after an under-pressure Ding made a rare mistake while in a strong position, the game's commentators observed.
The 18-year-old clinched victory with a final score of 7.5-6.5, ending around 15 matches between the two players closely followed by chess fans around the world.
Ding, China's first world chess champion, has faced pressure on his form all year since winning the title in 2023.
The Chinese player had not won a “classic” long-format match since January and appeared to be avoiding other high-level competitions.
But he had a good first match and won the last match against Dommaraju, suggesting momentum.
Both players had two wins each and eight draws heading into Thursday's final match.
After hours of close play, Ding, on move 55, moved his rook to a fatally weak position that gave Dommaraju the opportunity to capitalize.
Immediately recognizing his mistake, Ding collapsed onto the table.
“Ding appeared to have a safe chance to push for victory, but instead was liquidated in a pawnless endgame,” Chess.com wrote in its post-match summary. “It should have been drawn, but Ding blundered as the pressure mounted.”
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Ding reacts to his blunder
From there, it was game over. Ding resigned three moves later.
Dommaraju immediately burst into tears as the room erupted in cheers from spectators.
“I probably got very emotional because I didn't really expect to win this position,” he was quoted as saying.
At 18, he is also the second Indian player to become a world chess champion, after five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to praise the project.
“Historical and exemplary!” he wrote on
The FIDE World Chess Championship has a prize fund of $2.5 million (£1.96 million).
