Dommaraju Gukesh, who is only 18 years old, is the youngest world chess champion in history.
The Indian won the World Cup duel against defending champion Ding Liren with 7.5 to 6.5. Gukesh benefited from a huge mistake by the 32-year-old Chinese in the 14th and final match on Thursday (December 12, 2024).
Ding actually had the advantage with the white pieces, but forced the draw. With this outcome, the decision would have been made in a tiebreak on Friday. But then, after about four hours, Ding made a serious mistake on move 55 and gave up. Gukesh put his hands over his face and paused.
Second Indian World Champion
The title fight between the opponents lasted almost two and a half weeks. Gukesh is the second Indian world champion after Viswanathan Anand (2007-2013); For his success in Singapore he receives the majority of the prize money of 2.5 million dollars (around 2.37 million euros).
Last year, Liren was the first Chinese to win the title against the Russian Jan Nepomnjaschtschi.