Dommaraju Gukesh became the youngest world champion in the history of chess after defeating Ding Liren 7.5 – 6.5 in the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore. With the game tied at the beginning of the final game in the 14-match contest, it was anyone’s to win, but a late blunder from defending champion Ding allowed 18-year-old Gukesh to pounce, and he won game 14 to pull off a last-gasp victory.
Despite the game heading for a draw from quite early on, Gukesh held on in hope for the blunder, which happened in 55…Rf2 and three moves later, he was world champion. Gukesh follows Viswanathan Anand as the second world champion from India, with the trophy returning to India’s shores after 12 years.
Ding Liren, meanwhile, relinquishes his title after only a year, having defeated Ian Nepomniatchi in 2023, only to lose it in 2024.
The defending champion was favourite after game 13, having all the momentum with a win in game 12 and staving off a marauding Gukesh in game 13. With white in game 14, Ding could have been happy with a draw, as tiebreakers the next day would have heavily favoured Ding, as the Chinese GM’s rating in speed chess was far better than that of Gukesh.
Ding started with the Reti opening in game 14, and after it morphed into the King’s Indian Attack: French, Reversed Grunfeld Variation, the game seemed to hang in the balance. Despite a few long thinks from Ding, taking 18 minutes and 30 seconds to make move 11, Gukesh was unable to find an advantage.
It seemed a very equal position as the game progressed, with Ding and Gukesh making time control with relative ease as plenty of pieces moved off the board. It then became a game of rooks and bishops, but with such little material left on the board, a draw seemed an inevitability. Gukesh held on, continuing to push, before the moment of the championship came.
55… Rf2
Ding Liren’s 55th move proved to be a catastrophic blunder, moving his rook to f2, with Gukesh reacting immediately in surprise. The 18-year-old composed himself with a sip of water and calculated the series of moves that would be enough to win him the match and the championship. Ding, for his part, also seemed to realise his blunder later and made moves in a daze. As Gukesh responded with moving his king to e5 in the 58th move, the writing was on the wall with a king-and-pawn endgame.
Ding realised there was no escape and resigned immediately, shaking his hand with his opponent and swiftly leaving as he conceded the world title. Gukesh sat down, broke into tears and as he rearranged the board, the emotions were writ large on his face. He raised his arms in celebration later after rising from the board, now realising he had achieved his childhood dream.
After the match, Ding was visibly disappointed and was afforded the chance to leave the press conference early, saying “It took me a while to realised I blundered. I think I played my best tournament in the year. I could be better, but considering yesterday’s luck, it’s a fair result to lose in the end. I have no regrets. Thank you. I will continue to play.”
Gukesh meanwhile, played tribute to his opponent, saying “We all know who Ding is. He has been one of the best players in history for several years. To see him struggling and see how much pressure he faced, and the fight he gave… To me he is a real world champion. He fought like a true champion, and I’m really sorry for Ding and his team. I would like to thank my opponent first – this could not have been the same without him.”
He described his realisation of Ding’s blunder as the ‘best moment of my life’, and noted this was a fulfillment of a dream he had as a young child, watching Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen face off in person in the 2013 FIDE World Chess Champion
The 18-year-old thanked his parents, his team, and when asked what this victory meant to him, signed off thus:
“Everything. It means everything.”
You can relive the action, as it happened, below:
