Dommaraju Gukesh couldn’t quite believe it. Surely it didn’t happen? Surely the obsession of his life wasn’t about to come true? Surely the reigning world champion hadn’t committed the greatest blunder in world championship history? It was all true. The chess world just saw the proclamation of its new king. This new one is its youngest ever.
The poker face on the chess board that gave nothing away was now a thing of the past. There was a bit of a smile. He paced in and around his chair. He couldn’t sit in one place. His reaction was like a mixture of “what have you done” to Ding and “what have I done” to himself. He wanted that handshake to come from Ding Liren. When it did, the release of emotions was quite spectacular.
The tears flowed as comfortably as the cheers from the Indians in the hall who made the crowing moment a raucous one. As he said his thanks to the chess board, to God, and set about rearranging the pieces, he mumbled a few thank yous in between his tears as those around him congratulated him. And then he got up, with both arms raised and a beaming smile.
The 7-year-old who watched Viswanathan Anand lose the world title to Magnus Carlsen in Chennai in 2013 had vowed to himself back then that he would be the one to bring the title back to India. Now, he has – only the second Indian ever to do it – a whole 13 years younger than Anand was when he won his first.
His father Rajinikanth has lived this journey with him every step of the way. As game 14 was meandering along to a draw, he paced along the corridors of the venue, phone in hand, watching his son fight on in what everyone considered a dead-even draw. Gukesh couldn’t lose. He needed a massive blunder to win. When that blunder happened, Rajinikanth couldn’t contain himself. He was visibly stunned. He didn’t know how to react, as he paced two steps one way and then two steps the other.
Gukesh would later also speak to his mother on a video call, where he said they spent most of the time crying. His parents’ lives will now never be the same again. They’ll forever be remembered as the people whose sacrifices and efforts made the youngest-ever chess world champion.
And so once the game was done, Rajinikanth rushed out by the car waiting for Gukesh, and then shared the tightest of hugs with his young man who is now the toast of his whole nation.
♥️ Gukesh’s dad after he realized that his son had won the World Championship ��#GukeshDing #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/0WCwRbmzmd
– Chess.com – India (@chesscom_in) December 12, 2024
Gukesh’s mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton was certainly not expecting a celebration tonight, on just his second day in Singapore at these championships. “I can’t bl**dy believe it,” he exclaimed to this reporter. A tearful Gukesh shared an emotional hug with him too as he entered the press conference hall. “Thank you for coming,” the new world champion told the South African, whose love story with Indian sport is now demanding a book of its own.
And then there was Grzegorz Gajewski. His story with Gukesh had been described by Viswanathan Anand as love at first sight. What was he feeling? He was adamant that he hadn’t cried yet, but he looked on at Gukesh basking in the media’s spotlight, and took in the satisfaction. This was a job well done. Gukesh and him had promised to each other that they’d go on a bungee jump if they ended up victorious. Gaju, as Gukesh calls him, might now have to scout for the best spot to do it.
This was a blunder so unexpected that nobody at the venue even contemplated it. Those in the media centre were preparing for another day of chess tomorrow, there was only a debate on how long Gukesh would play, no one thought he was going to win. FIDE’s representatives there even said that they had made the arrangement for the players to draw lots to pick their colours for the first game of the rapid tie-breaks.
So, when 55…Rf2 happened, it was chaos, as reporters sprinted out into the playing hall, the fans sprinted out from the fanzone, and in the middle of it was Nitin Narang, the president of the All India Chess Federation. He shared hi-fives with everyone he could, and to be fair, he was only one of many Indians at the venue who just did not know how to react.
The sheer pandemonium of such an historic moment made it an ‘I was there’ moment for the sold-out crowd. Unless you’re Ding Liren. When the magnitude of what he did struck him, just as Gukesh pranced around his chair, Ding fell to the table. How did he do that? How on earth did he not spot what a big blunder he was making on move 55?
The only reason for that is the sheer tenacity of Gukesh. He could’ve played out a draw and gone back to his room to prepare for tie-breaks about two hours before move 55. He just kept playing, kept pushing, almost as if to tell Ding that he was different, he wasn’t taking easy draws like the Chinese did earlier in the match.
Later, Gukesh would say that being world champion doesn’t mean he’s the best player in the world, because a certain Magnus Carlsen exists. If you’re not the best player in the world, the next best thing you can do is channel him in critical moments.
Gukesh did a Carlsen. He squeezed his opponent out, fatigued him on the board, drew out a mistake, and in front of his eyes, saw water turn into wine. On the biggest day of his life, he found a special way to win. Dommaraju Gukesh has now got the chess world at his feet, as their new King.
