This seemed like a story straight from a fairytale book. A seven-or-eight-year-old boy gets attached to the sport of chess watching some seniors play and begins to nurse a dream of becoming the world champion one day!  And lo and behold, he becomes one, just around 10 years later, when he is just 18 years old! Gukesh Dommaraju or Gukesh represents just that! A dream that was to come true in what has been an amazing journey of determination, talent and perseverance. And the new World Chess Champion at 18 years is the youngest to ascend the throne and the second Indian to record this achievement after the incomparable Viswanathan Anand earlier. Both are from Chennai and that is why many say Chennai is now becoming the Mecca for chess as far as India is concerned.  If Gukesh has become the proud son of his equally proud parents Dr Rajnikanth and Dr Padmakumari, who had sacrificed so much for him, then Gukesh is also undoubtedly the pride of the nation.

Achieving something herculean like this at a young age is not just extraordinary but much beyond. Just one of those fortunate occurrences that his parents recognized early on — a passion for the sport and the thrill he felt in the strategic moves on the chessboard. With his school, the Velammal Vidyalaya fully supportive, it did not take long before he was well  on the way in the assured hands of coaches like Vishnu Prasanna and many others before Anand’s WestBridge academy too joined in to polish him into a champion material. Expectedly results did not  have to wait long.  In 2018, he won the U-12 title in the World Youth Chess Championship, and won multiple gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championships. By January 2019, when he was just past 12 years and 7 months, Gukesh had become a Grand Master, the second youngest in the history of the sport!

The gallop continued and in 2024 his double gold medal in the Chess Olympiad simply made him a force to reckon with. Gukesh proved that his rise was real when he became the youngest ever to win the Candidates tournament, the preliminary round to pick the challenger for the reigning World championship title holder Ding Liren. Finally, when he got past the biggest challenge of all, beating Liren, the flood of emotions can only be imagined. The way he went about in those moments of triumph defined his character as a young man who was in complete control of everything around him. Once the verdict was clear, his first act after the customary handshake was to reset the pieces on the board, clasp his hands and look above for a quick prayer to the almighty in a moment of thanksgiving and then give in to the tears of joy. Then came the show of elation!

What stood out in the final was the way Gukesh handled the pressure. Considering that the whole chess world was watching him and his opponent as they made their moves, the expectations only grew manifold as they did. The way the Indian came back from a game down and then held his composure, the way he kept checking his famed rival’s ambition and finally cashed on the Chinese’s costly mistake are all now part of history. He has done it and shown the world that a nation inspired by the deeds of Anand (five times world champion) does have talent to come back in a big way and what is more, make a statement that India, the land where chess originated is ready to take back its appointed place, right at the top.

The candidates’ tournament had earlier unveiled the growing strength of Indian chess. post Aannd’s era. There were five Indians out of the eight who had competed in that tournament which experts say is one of the most difficult events in the world. Aside from Gukesh, there were R. Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrati, Koneru Humpy and  R. Vaishali. This was the largest contingent of Indians to participate in the Candidates. Where, before 2024 just one Indian _Anand_ had featured in this!  Times have truly changed.

Gukesh won but has that made him the number one player in the world, would be the immediate question. He is currently ranked number 5. Obviously with Magnus Carlsen around and the Norwegian has been the undisputed number one ranked player since 2011, there are still tasks ahead for the little Indian. But Gukesh, it must be said, handled Carlsen’s sarcastic remark about the quality of the matches after the world title win, with aplomb. The Indian agreed that every match of the world championship may not have been of the highest order but what counted was also the character of the players as much as their will power! A young mind coming up with this kind of response had to be applauded.

Gukesh’s victory opens the door for the other Indians close to him like Praggs, Gujarati and Arjun Erigaisi among others to open up. Interesting days are ahead. For now, let us savour the grand moment that Gukesh provided, easily a classic spectacle of the year 2024.