By – Aditi Gupta
After winning the Candidates tournament, Gukesh, a 17-year-old from Chennai, would be the youngest contender in the entire history of the world chess championship.
After obtaining with Hikaru Nakamura in the Candidates chess tournament final round, D Gukesh, a 17-year-old from Chennai who was the second youngest player to compete at the prestigious tournament, became the youngest winner of the event and will also be the youngest player to compete at the World Chess Championship. Luck was on Gukesh’s team as Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana played to a last-minute draw, which aided Gukesh win the match even though a draw would have only gotten him to the tiebreaks.
Gukesh has continuously pursued history in his young career. At 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, he became the youngest grandmaster in India’s history, just 17 days away of being the youngest in the world. Last year, for the first time in thirty-six years, he toppled five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand to become the nation’s number-one player. He has now expanded his excellent portfolio by one more achievement.
In a period when young Indian prodigies seem appear every month, Gukesh’s background in the sport was a little different from most others’. He was intentionally barred from using chess engines until after attaining a career rating of over 2500. In a time when engines have significantly altered how players train for games, it was a brave decision.
With that strategy, Gukesh is probably in the minority. It’s a very logical tactic. The important thing to note is that he profited from his trainer even though he wasn’t using engines himself. That is the proper situation. Viswanathan Anand stated, “A player must focus on their playing skills, and the trainer can provide them with the best information (after using engines).”
“We had no issue. He was very close to becoming the world’s youngest grandmaster. It’s hard to determine whether working with engines would have boosted our chances (to set the record that Gukesh missed by 17 days). We knew he was playing well. “Getting so close to that record is reasonable proof that he was doing well,” he stated.