In 2013, a seven-year-old walked into a tournament hall in Chennai and stood in awe as he saw Viswanathan Anand take on Magnus Carlsen. Eleven years later, not only has Gukesh D. beaten Carlsen and overtaken Anand in the ratings, he has become the youngest to win the FIDE candidates tournament. The Chennai boy will now challenge champion Ding Liren later in the year.
“Gukesh’s accomplishment has smashed all records,” Pravin Thipsay, India’s third grandmaster, told THE WEEK. His campaign was steady; he went up against more fancied opponents like the Americans Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and also against fellow Indians Vidit Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa. He finished with five wins in the 14 rounds, and his only loss came against the Iranian-French Alireza Firouzja in the seventh round. He went into his final game at the top of the leader board, and drew the match against Nakamura. He ultimately won after the match between Nepomniachtchi and Caruana ended in a draw, which meant neither of them could equal Gukesh’s score of nine points.
In his final game against Nakamura, it was Gukesh’s calmness that helped him. Faced with a Queen’s Gambit Accepted (an opening in chess), Nakamura made a surprising move―7.a3 (moving his leftmost pawn forward)―which he later called a “slight inaccuracy”. But Gukesh was ready for the surprise.
“If I had to pinpoint a moment where I really felt this could be my moment, it was probably after the seventh game, after I lost to Firouzja,” Gukesh told the media after he won. “Even though I just had a painful loss, I was feeling at my absolute best. Maybe this loss gave me so much motivation.”
Gukesh, a prodigy, became grandmaster at 12; he was at the time the second youngest to achieve the feat. He was also the youngest player to beat World Champion Carlsen, in 2022, and also won a gold medal at the Chess Olympiad that year. It was his stellar performance on the FIDE circuit that secured his qualification for the candidates.
The Tamil Nadu government also helped. To boost his rating in time for the candidates, the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu sponsored a last-minute tournament in Chennai. “The state government has been supporting the young talents not just through matches but also through incentives,” SDAT CEO Meghanatha Reddy told THE WEEK. The Olympiad in 2022 was also a feather in the cap of the state government.
The ecosystem in Tamil Nadu is such that the state chess association and the government work together to produce more international masters at the district, state and national levels, not just from Chennai but also from smaller towns. Reddy said that Gukesh also drew strength from the SDAT’s moves to support the players.
Born to an ENT surgeon father and a microbiologist mother, Gukesh’s journey to the top was a bit different. For starters, he did not rely on chess engines, instead trusting his brain to guide him. “All youngsters go for computer evaluation of the position,” said Thipsay. “But Gukesh does not go for the lines suggested by the engine. His focus is outstanding.”
Gukesh has always been calm on the board, trying to get the opponent to make a mistake. In round five against Azerbaijan’s Nijat Abasov, he missed a chance to go for the kill in the 40th move. However, he stayed in the game and waited. They went on for six hours. Abasov blundered in his 83rd move, and Gukesh won in the next four.
Talking to the media following his last match with Nakamura, Gukesh said that he was in a “wait and watch” state of mind. And though his draw against Nakamura proved enough, he said he was ready for the tiebreak in case Caruana or Nepomniachtchi had won their last game. “His patience and his mental state,” said Thipsay, “give him his strength.”