R Madhavan celebrates Gukesh D’s historic chess triumph
D Gukesh made history as the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, defeating China's Ding Liren in a thrilling finale. His composure and skill secured a 7.5-6.5 victory.
Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand’s 37-year reign as the top chess player in India was broken on Thursday by the 17-year-old teenage prodigy D. Gukesh in the live global rankings.
Gukesh improved to world number 9 in the classic open division after defeating Mistradin Iskandarov in the second round of the FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a live rating of 2755.9.
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Gukesh joins Anand and Pentala Harikrishna as the third Indian to reach the top 10 in the world.
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He had become the youngest player at 16 to defeat then-world champion Magnus Carlsen on 16 October 2022 in a game at the Aimchess Rapid Tournament.
Gukesh also surpassed Magnus Carlsen’s record for the youngest player to reach 2750 ELO in chess history in August 2023.
He was born in Chennai to a surgeon father and a microbiologist mother. He took his education from Chennai and learned to play chess when he was seven.
Anand, who received a score of 2754.0, fell to the ninth position. Since 1986, Anand has only fallen twice to second place in the live world rankings.
“Gukesh D triumphed once more today, defeating Viswanathan Anand in the live rating! The upcoming official FIDE rating list will be released on September 1, and the highest-rated Indian player, a 17-year-old, is very likely to make it into the top 10 worldwide.” On Thursday, the International Chess Federation (ICF) tweeted.
Due to D. Gukesh’s impressive play, the entire chess community is now focused on his future game versus the Azerbaijani opponent using black pieces.
In this crucial game, a draw will progress him to the next round. In both the live ratings and the global rankings, he will surpass Anand with one more victory.
Alireza Firouzja, one of the most promising young chess players who isn’t competing in Baku, is close behind.
Magnus Carlsen, the world number one is believed to be the all-time best player of chess though Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer also remain in the conversation.
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