World Champion
Gukesh is the 18th undisputed Chess Champion of the World, defeating Ding Liren for the title in the match played in Singapore from November through to 12 December 2024. In doing so, he became the youngest ever undisputed World Champion, shading the legendary Gary Kasparov who won the title at the age of 22.
Sidenote: Ponomariov won the FIDE side of the split title in 2002 also at the age of 18, albeit a few months younger than Gukesh. At the time Kasparov was still champion of the “classical” world championship.
Championships:
Asia
Gukesh won the U9 section of the Asian School Championships in 2015.
He won the U12 Asian Youth Championships in classical, rapid and blitz in 2018.
World Youth: He also won two youth world championships:
- U12 (2018) and
- U14 (2020) (online)
World Cup 2023: Gukesh defeated Iskandarov, Narayanan and Esipenko in the preliminary rounds (after a first round bye) before he was eliminated in Round 5 by Magnus Carlsen.
Candidates: Despite this “setback” in the World Cup, Gukesh managed to qualify for the Candidates Tournament of 2024 through the 2023 FIDE Circuit. In April 2024 he won the Candidates Tournament, the youngest person to do so and therefore the youngest ever Challenger for the World Championship Match. He then proceeded to win the World Championship at the end of that year.
Titles
Candidate Master: 2015 upon his win in the U9 Asian School Championship.
International Master: 2018 at the age of 11 years 9 months 9 days following his third IM norm won at the Cappelle la Grande Open.
Grandmaster: On 15 January 2019, Gukesh became the then second-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game (behind Sergey Karjakin) at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days.
World Champion: 12 December 2024 aged 18 years 6 months and 24 days.
Ratings Milestones:
Third youngest to reach 2700 in September 2022 aged 16 years 3 months
Youngest to reach 2750 in August 2023 aged 17 years 2 months
Top ranked player in India in September 2023, aged 17 years 3 months (ahead of Anand)
Tournaments:
2021: Gukesh won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, with 14/19
2022: He won four events in Spain:
- La Roda Open (8/9)
- Menorca Open (6/7)
- Formentora Open (8/10) and
- Gijon City invitational (8/9)
2023: Gukesh finished =1st alongside Aronian and Nepomniachtchi at the WR Masters tournament in Dusseldorf, placing second to Aronian in the tiebreaks.
2025: 2nd at Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters)
Team Events:
2018: Gold medals in the 2018 Asian Youth Championships in the U12 Division in the team rapid and blitz competitions.
2022:
- Team gold at the Bangladesh Premier League
- Olympiad: Gold medal on board 1 with 9/11 (TPR 2867), team bronze medal
- Team silver in the Turkish Super League
- Team Gold in the Spanish League Honor Division
2023:
- Team (India) Silver at the Asian Games Men’s Team Standard
- Team gold at the Bundesliga West for Dusseldorf
2024: Olympiad: Team and individual gold medal on board 1 with 10/11 (TPR 3054)
Rapid and Blitz
2022:Team silver at the Spanish Rapid Team Championship in Toledo
1st at the Armageddon Asia and Oceania Blitz event held in Berlin
Online events
Won the final of the Junior Speed Championship vs Sadhwani (17.5-10.5)
Narrative Summary
To each hero, their time... Gukesh, throughout his still short but very bright life, has been breaking records and constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible. The Indian prodigy has been at the forefront in almost every race: the youngest ever open World Champion, the title of the youngest grandmaster, the greatest number of games played, the fastest rating growth in a calendar year, early achievements of 2600, 2700 and 2750 ratings, qualifying for the World Championship cycle, the Candidates Tournament, and the match for the crown. By the age of 18, Gukesh has left his mark everywhere, including at the very highest level.
Dommaraju Gukesh, or simply Gukesh D., as he is known worldwide, was born on May 29, 2006, in Chennai. His scholarly parents (his father is a surgeon, and his mother a microbiologist) taught him chess when he started school. At 7, he was dedicating only an hour a day to practice three times a week, playing in tournaments on weekends, but within a year, he had a permanent coach. At 9, Gukesh won the Asian Championship U12, and in 2018, he captured five gold medals, winning in all formats and time controls. In January 2019, he almost broke Karjakin's record of youngest ever grandmaster, earning the title just two and a half weeks older than Karjakin when he achieved his nearly two decades earlier.
At that time, he crossed the 2500 rating mark, and by March 2020, he had a rating of 2563. If it hadn't been for the COVID-19 pandemic, Gukesh's career might have developed even faster. The Indian player returned to competitive chess in June 2021, scoring 14/19 against the world's strongest juniors at the Julius Baer Challengers online event, and then returned to over-the-board play, reaching a rating of 2640 by October. Between March and July 2022, Dommaraju embarked on a true open-world tour: in five months, with short breaks, he participated in 10 consecutive tournaments, playing 90 games and increasing his rating by 70 points.
In India, this streak was highly appreciated, and at the home Olympiad in Chennai in 2022, he was given the 1st board of the national youth team. The decision paid off! Gukesh played all the games, starting with a perfect 8/8 score, leading his team to the top of the tournament. Only a heartbreaking loss to Uzbekistan (Dommaraju had a winning position against Abdusattorov) prevented the young Indians from taking the title (they finished second), and their leader from achieving the absolute best result on the 1st board in Olympiad history, although his 9/11 was enough to earn individual gold.
After the triumph in Chennai, Gukesh had no intention of slowing down: he participated in three more tournaments, and within less than 8 months, his rating soared from 2614 (180th in the world) to 2732 (18th). He crossed the 2700 mark at 16 years, 3 months, and 3 days (only Wei Yi and Firouzja did it earlier). In 2023, the Indian prodigy, now invited to all the major tournaments, continued to accumulate successes: WR Chess Masters (5.5/9), Sharjah Masters (6/9), Norway Chess (5/9), Qatar Masters (6.5/9), and the Chennai Grand Masters (4.5/7). The last of these secured Dommaraju a spot in the 2024 Candidates Tournament as it made him the winner of the FIDE Circuit tournament race. Never before has a 17-year-old chess player participated in such a competition; the previous record belonged to Firouzja, who turned 19 in 2022.
Gukesh's chances in Toronto were not rated very high, but he made good use of Anand's advice, who had been a great help to his fellow countrymen – Pragg and Gukesh – especially after Dommaraju replaced Vishy as India's #1 chess player following Anand's 37-year reign. Gukesh perfectly paced himself throughout the tournament, never losing control, and despite a disappointing loss in the 7th round, he managed to win three games, take 1st place (9/14), and earn the right to the championship match. Gukesh became the youngest challenger for the crown. Before him, Kasparov was the youngest to qualify for the match at 21. Ponomariov won the title at 18, but that was during the FIDE knockout system. So, when the Indian prodigy dethroned Ding Liren in the winter of 2024, he became the youngest World Champion in history!
Carlsen, who never came close to Gukesh's records, doesn't see anything particularly special in his playing style, calling him a "pure counter": "I can't say that his style fascinates me like Praggnanandhaa or Erigaisi. But at the same time, Gukesh almost never makes mistakes, which makes him an extremely dangerous opponent under any circumstances..."
