In the Candidates chess tournament, which concluded in Toronto on Sunday, Gukesh at 17 years, 10 months and 24 days smashed the 40-year-old record of legendary Garry Kasparov as the youngest player to earn the right of a challenger in its 74-year history.He will take on China’s world champion Ding Liren later this year in the championship match. Gukesh broke Kasparov’s record set in 1984 by over three years. During Kasparov’s time, the last part of Candidates cycle used to be played via head-to-head matches and not round robin.
On his way to the Candidates triumph, Gukesh also ended a decade-long wait for a challenger from India. In 2014, five-time world champion V Anand had lost to Magnus Carlsen for the second year in a row.
When Anand and Carlsen played in Chennai in 2013, Gukesh was just 7. The feel of that match might have had a deep impact on the young kid.
The 14-round Candidates was a battle between exuberance and experience where youthful energy prevailed. With a fearless approach, Gukesh finished on top of the table collecting nine points as he forced second seed Hikaru Nakamura to split a point. Two-time challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi, top seed Fabiano Caruana and world No. 3 Nakamura finished joint second with 8.5 points each. Neither Caruana nor Nepo could manage to win on demand and had to reluctantly settle for a draw on Sunday.
On his memorable triumph, Gukesh said, “It’s always an honour representing my country. To achieve something big for myself and my country is very special to me. Right now I am relieved and happy.”
He added, “The main thing is that I had the right mindset throughout the event. From start to end, I was in good spirits, fully motivated. I really wanted to win the event. All these things came together. It was helpful that I was sharp chess-wise and managed to play some good games, but I was very strong mentally.”
Anand was the first to praise Gukesh. In his post on X, Anand wrote, “I am personally very proud of how you played and handled tough situations. Enjoy the moment.”
In the 14th and final round where a draw was enough for him to take the championship to tie-breaks, Gukesh defended well with black pieces and after surprising Nakamura with some new ideas, he slowly achieved equal position. In a must-win situation, Nakamura opted for some trickery. But Gukesh was up to it and the draw was attained after 71 moves.
World’s top-rated player, Magnus Carlsen, who came live on chess24 YouTube broadcast was all praise for Gukesh and his deep preparation. His comments were not consistent and it only underlined that he was not in tune with Gukesh’s territory.
In his video recap, Nakamura said, “When Gukesh played this opening and found b4 on the 11th move, I never really had any opportunities after that.”
Gukesh’s draw meant a decisive game between Nepo and Caruana would have forced a tiebreak on Monday.
In a tense battle played for almost six hours, Caruana was unable to provide finishing touches in a crazy game.
Both Caruana and Nepo had their chances, but nerves played their part and the experienced pros started committing mistakes. After a complex position where victory, defeat and a draw all three results were possible, the nerve-wracking battle ended in a draw after 109 moves.
In his post-game interview with FIDE, a disappointed Caruana said: “I feel like an idiot. It was a bad game at a very unfortunate moment.”
Nepo added, “I don’t know what to say. Some bad luck for Fabiano.”
In his commentary, Carlsen also mentioned the piece of advice he gave to Gukesh. Carlsen said, “Gukesh actually asked me in Germany what he should do in the Candidates. And I said, I don’t have any good advice, I don’t know. I only said that he should not go crazy and he should just look for his chances because other people will go crazy.”
The nerve-wracking Caruana-Nepo game that Gukesh was following has made the Gukesh a bit emotional. He said, “I was following this crazy game (Caruana vs Nepo), and I was completely emotional. But now, after the game finished, I’m feeling quite good.”
With this triumph, Gukesh has become India’s new No. 1 in live rating (2763.4) and is also higher-rated than the current world champion Ding Liren, who is seventh, by one point. Gukesh’s performance rating was 2847 in 14 rounds.
Final Standings:
Open:
1. Gukesh – 9
2. Nakamura – 8.5
3. Nepomniachtchi – 8.5
4. Caruana – 8.5
5. Praggnanandhaa – 7
6. Vidit – 6
7. Firouzja – 5
8. Abasov – 3.5
Women’s:
1. Tan – 9
2. Koneru – 7.5
3. Lei – 7.5
4. Vaishali – 7.5
5. Goryachkina – 7
6.Lagno – 6.5
7. Salimova – 5.5
8. A. Muzychuk – 5.5
