Gukesh Dommaraju Just Became The Youngest Winner Of The World Chess Championship Title

India’s Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest winner of the World Chess Championship on Thursday after defeating reigning champ Ding Liren of China.

NBC News reported that the 18-year-old won a 7.5-6.5 victory in Game 14 in Singapore and earned a $2.5 million prize for his efforts.

What Gukesh Dommaraju said about his win

“It’s fitting that the match goes to the last game, because we’ve both showed a lot of fighting spirit and played some very entertaining chess,” Gukesh said at a post-match news conference, per the outlet.

Despite becoming the second-youngest grandmaster at 12, Gukesh told reporters, “Becoming the world champion doesn’t mean that I’m the best player in the world, obviously there’s Magnus, so it’s also a motivating factor,” referring to Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, who is a five-time World Chess Champion who relinquished his title in 2022 due to a lack of motivation, Reuters reported.

He didn’t expect to win

NBC said Ding made a “crucial blunder” that allowed Gukesh to triumph.

“I probably got so emotional because I did not really expect to win that position,” Gukesh told the media.

He added, “We all know who Ding is — he has been one of the best players in history for several years. For me he is the real World Champion,” according to NBC.

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