Gukesh Dommaraju (born 29 May 2006) is an Indianchess grandmaster and the reigningWorld Chess Champion. Achess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest undisputed world champion, the youngest player to have surpassed aFIDErating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, and the third-youngest to have surpassed 2700Elo at the age of 16. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 12 and is thethird-youngest grandmaster in chess history.
Gukesh won the team bronze and the individual gold medal at the44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh became the top-rated Indian player, surpassingViswanathan Anand's 37-year record.[1][2] In the45th Chess Olympiad in 2024, he won both team and individual gold medals. In 2024, he became the youngest winner of theCandidates Tournament and successfully challengedDing Liren in theWorld Chess Championship, becoming the 18th and youngest undisputed world champion, at the age of 18 years and 195 days.[3]
Gukesh was born on 29 May 2006 inChennai into aTelugu family fromAndhra Pradesh.[4][5][6] His mother, Padmakumari, is amicrobiologist, and his father, Rajinikanth, is anENT surgeon who moved to Chennai to pursue his medical career.[7][8] Gukesh studied at the Velammal Vidyalaya School inMel Ayanambakkam, Chennai.[9]
Gukesh's family hails from the village of Chenchuraju Kandriga, nearSatyavedu in theTirupati district ofAndhra Pradesh.[4][5][6] His grandfather Shankar Raju was born and raised in Chenchuraju Kandriga and worked in theIndian Railways. His son Rajinikanth, later settled in Chennai to pursue a medical career and married Padmakumari there.[5][4] The family owns properties in Chenchuraju Kandriga, where Shankar Raju currently lives.[4][10]
Gukesh learned to play chess in 2013, at the age of seven, and eventually began structured one-hour sessions three times a week.[11] He dropped out of school after Class IV, that is, inelementary school, to focus on his chess career. In 2017, his father quit his job to travel with Gukesh to various tournaments; Gukesh was sponsored by his parents' friends at this time,[12] support about which he has often spoken since.[13] His extraordinary talent was recognized institutionally early on, and he became one of the many beneficiaries of the robust Indian chess ecosystem.[14]
Gukesh won the under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015.[15] He won theWorld Youth Chess Championship in 2018 in the under-12 category.[16] In the 2018Asian Youth Chess Championship, he won a record five gold medals in the under-12 events in individual rapid, blitz and classical formats, and the team rapid and blitz competitions.[17] He completed the requirements for the title ofInternational Master in March 2017 at the 34thCappelle-la-Grande Open.[18]
On 15January 2019, Gukesh became the thensecond-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, behindSergey Karjakin.[19][20][a] In June 2021, he won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, scoring 14 out of 19 points.[22]
Olympiad gold and Candidates qualification (2022–2023)
In August 2022, Gukesh won the individual gold medal on the first board in theopen event at the44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai with a score of 9 out of 11. He was part of the India-2 team which won the bronze medal in the same tournament.[23][24] In September 2022, he was part of theIndian team that won the silver medal at the2022 Asian Games in themen's team competition.[25] In the same month, Gukesh reached aFIDErating of over 2700 for the first time with a rating of 2726, and became the third-youngest to do so afterWei Yi andAlireza Firouzja.[26][27] During the Aimchess Rapid tournament in October 2022, Gukesh became the youngest to beatMagnus Carlsen, the reigningWorld Chess Champion at that time.[28][29]
In August 2023, Gukesh became the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2750, breaking Carlsen's record.[30] In theChess World Cup 2023 atBaku, he advanced to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Carlsen.[31] In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh surpassedViswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player, marking the first time in 37 years that Anand was not the top-ranked Indian player.[1][2]
In January 2024, Gukesh finished in a four-way tie for the first place in theTata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 with a score of 8½ in 13 rounds. He defeatedAnish Giri in the semifinals before losing toWei Yi in the finals of the tiebreaker.[36]
In April 2024, Gukesh was part of the eight-playerCandidates Tournament held inToronto. He won five games againstR Praggnanandhaa andVidit Gujrathi playing as Black, Firouzja playing as White, andNijat Abasov playing as both Black and White. With a single loss coming against Firouzja, he finished with nine points from 14 rounds to win the tournament.[37][38] He was the youngest-ever winner of the Candidates tournament.[39][40][41]
In September 2024, Gukesh took part in theChess Olympiad inBudapest as part of the Indian team. He did not lose a single match and won the individual gold medal with a score of nine across ten rounds. His performance on board one helped India to win their first-ever team gold medal at the Olympiad.[42] As a result of the win, Gukesh entered the top-five in the FIDE rankings for the first time on 1 October 2024.[43][44]
The2024 World Chess Championship was held in November–December 2024 between Gukesh andDing Liren. Gukesh scored three wins against two wins for Ding, and nine draws in the 14 classical rounds of the tournament. He won the 14th and final match on 12 December 2024, and as a result, the World Chess Championship by a scoreline of 7½–6½.[45][46] The win made him the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion,[b] breaking the record previously held byGarry Kasparov.[47][48] FIDE commented on Gukesh's gameplay as having "near-perfect accuracy", and Ding reacted that it was his best tournament of the year, and that he had no regrets in losing the title to Gukesh.[49]
Gukesh plays a reactive game and is notable for his ability to calculate under time pressure, which often leads to complex tactical battles in his games.[50] His mentor Anand describes him as having "incredible calculating abilities".[51] Carlsen regards Gukesh's style of play as "pure counter" and opined that Gukesh makes very few mistakes, which makes him "an extremely dangerous opponent under any circumstances".[52] His style has also borne comparison with former world championAnatoly Karpov's incremental,anaconda-like gains (so subtle that his opponent has no counter).[53]
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