With Ding Liren's blunder in the endgame of Game 14, Gukesh becomes the youngest-ever FIDE World Champion.
Photo: FIDE / Eng Chin An
Dommaraju Gukesh Crowned the New World Chess Champion
Thursday, December 12, 2024. On the 12th day of the 12th month, at just 18 years old, Dommaraju Gukesh, from the renowned chess city of Chennai, India, becomes the 18th World Chess Champion.
His victory fulfilled the predictions of a significant part of the chess community—though it wasn’t easy. Well, actually, it was. To explain: the championship was only decided in the final game, but it came down to a mistake that almost felt like a gift from China’s Ding Liren.
Before the championship match between Ding Liren and Dommaraju Gukesh, one player clearly expressed support for a Gukesh victory. If Ding won, Hikaru Nakamura said, “chess would regress by 2 to 4 years.” His reasoning was that the growing interest in chess among the masses in India should be leveraged.
It’s no small matter—greater exposure could mean more sponsorships and support. You can find a roundup of comments and predictions before the championship in Colin McGourthy’s article on chess.com
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After Ding Liren’s stunning display on the board in Game 12 and yesterday’s draw, where Ding played black pieces, everything pointed to him closing the championship strongly—or at least heading to tie-breaks. But as the saying goes, “The devil is in the details,” and in chess, the devil is in the endgames.
Speaking of endgames, Magnus Carlsen’s decision to relinquish his title has left a noticeable power vacuum in the game. Carlsen, a master of grinding out victories with flawless endgame technique—though his style wasn’t always the most entertaining—dominated the scene as FIDE Champion from 2013 to 2023. In fact, he still dominates, as he frequently wins or places in the top three of tournaments he enters.
But today, there was no endgame expert on the board. In the game, after Ding opened with 1. Nf3, Gukesh responded with the King’s Indian Attack. To deal with the central tension, the champion played 4. d4, transitioning into what’s known as a reversed Grünfeld.
The development remained even, with a few pieces exchanged. But starting with move 23, Rfd1, Ding began losing initiative. While the rook’s move threatened the queen, it only allowed Gukesh to position it more effectively. Shortly afterward, Ding played an unnecessary 26. a4, enabling his opponent to gain a pawn and fight for more. Even so, the game seemed destined for a draw—until the champion made the tournament’s decisive error with 55. Rf2.
It took Gukesh about 15 seconds to realize something was wrong—but not for him. His expressions of surprise and disbelief said it all. And soon after, the young challenger, who had avoided eye contact with Ding throughout the 14 games, finally looked his opponent in the eye.
In the press conference, Ding remarked that the endgame he had just lost reminded him of another similar match he lost against Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem earlier this year at the Budapest Olympiad. That game also ended in a rook-and-bishop endgame.
Diagonales Abiertas
