Dr. Rajinikanth and his spouse Dr. Padma would repeatedly play chess collectively for enjoyable at their household residence in India. At all times at their facet, watching wide-eyed, observing intensely as each bit was strategically moved on the board, was their son, Gukesh. The younger boy was captivated by the calculated black and white dance earlier than him.
“He would turn into fascinated with how the items labored,” Rajini tells The Athletic.
Over the following few weeks, Gukesh, nonetheless contemporary into maturity, may turn into the youngest-ever chess world champion. By qualifying for this month’s 2024 World Chess Championship in Singapore, the 18-year-old is already the youngest challenger to compete for the world title.
It has been a meteoric and shocking rise for a participant who, till the summer time of 2022, was nonetheless solely ranked as a junior. “It simply occurred accidentally,” says Rajini, a surgeon. His son’s success wasn’t preordained, he says. Neither he nor his partner, who’s a microbiologist, had deliberate for or dreamed of their son changing into a phenomenon within the sport. “We by no means realized he was a particular expertise,” he explains. “It was the faculties, academics, and coaches who began to inform us, ‘This child is proficient, you need to pursue extra’.”
Beginning on Monday, Gukesh will play titleholder Ding Liren, 32, of China within the best-of-14 classical video games match that would final till December 13. For the primary time in 138 years, two gamers from Asia will contest the ultimate.
Gukesh, from town of Chennai on the Indian south coast, a hotbed for chess expertise, gained the eight-player 2024 Candidates match in Toronto to arrange the possibility to turn into the primary teenager to win the world title. Aged 17, in his first look at what is actually the ultimate spherical of World Championship qualifying, he overcame the chances and bought the higher of 5 extra celebrated gamers — all with larger rankings — incomes his title shot with 5 wins, one loss, and eight attracts to complete with a rating of 9 out of 14 (one level for a win, half some extent for a draw, and nil for a loss). Ought to he triumph in Singapore, he’ll turn into India’s second world chess champion after Viswanathan Anand.
Ding competes in opposition to Gukesh through the Tata Metal Chess Event within the Netherlands in January 2023. (Photograph by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua by way of Getty Photos)
Maybe such success shouldn’t have been shocking given the information he broke as a baby. Nonetheless younger sufficient to be included within the Worldwide Chess Federation’s (FIDE) junior world rankings, he’s the world’s top-ranked junior male participant in classical chess, the longest format of the game.
That he may beat the defending champion isn’t within the realm of fantasy, both. Gukesh, ranked fifth on this planet on this month’s classical rankings, is the in-form participant. Ding, at present twenty third, has had a troublesome reign as world champion, taking a nine-month break from the game final yr for psychological well being causes. He hasn’t gained a classical recreation since January and has solely performed 44 classical video games since changing into world champion.
“I’m apprehensive about shedding very badly. Hopefully it gained’t occur,” Ding mentioned to chess app TakeTakeTake in September. At this week’s press convention, Ding mentioned he wasn’t at his peak however mentioned he was at “peace” and would evaluate his earlier greatest performances for inspiration.
Ding does, nonetheless, maintain the higher file within the pair’s head-to-head classical conferences, profitable two and drawing as soon as, and his peak FIDE score of two,816 is larger than Gukesh’s (2,794, reached in October).
However Magnus Carlsen, the five-time world champion who opted to not defend his world crown in 2023 however remains to be ranked because the world’s greatest classical participant, has backed Gukesh to win, and urged the significance of Ding making a quick begin.
“Ding can’t lose the primary recreation… from what we’ve seen from Ding for the final one-and-a-half years, I don’t assume he’ll come again from shedding the primary recreation, so I agree, hesitantly, that he’s going to be the primary individual to win a recreation, however I’m very unsure,” he informed chess.com. The Norwegian added: “The one manner there’s going to be a low variety of decisive video games is that Ding will get possibilities and retains lacking them. We may see a massacre.”
‘Gukesh D’ as he’s identified, began enjoying chess on the age of seven, profitable numerous junior tournaments earlier than changing into, on the time, the second-youngest grandmaster, aged 12 years, seven months and 17 days. Grandmaster, awarded to gamers by governing physique FIDE for all times, is the very best title exterior of world champion; at this time there are greater than 1,850.
This yr, he grew to become the third-youngest to achieve a FIDE score of two,700 after claiming two gold medals on the Chess Olympiad — a biennial worldwide match that was held in Budapest, Hungary, and he’s the youngest participant to realize a score of two,750.
Gukesh mentioned his youth might be seen as a unfavourable and a constructive heading into the ultimate, however at this week’s press convention Ding mentioned his opponent performed with maturity “in lots of features”. Recognized for being an aggressive participant, Gukesh, who lately revealed he was a fan of the sitcom Mates, is considered one of a variety of younger gamers making a reputation for himself within the sport. Ding lately decribed the brand new era of gamers as fearless. “There are so much born after 2000, they play fearlessly and are keen to strive completely different methods that the earlier era may not have,” he mentioned, in accordance with The Straits Instances.
Gukesh is welcomed at Chennai Worldwide Airport after profitable two gold medals on the FIDE Chess Olympiad (Photograph by R. Satish Babu/AFP by way of Getty)
One of many coaches who informed Gukesh’s dad and mom about their son’s particular capability and helped his improvement was Indian grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, who coached the prodigy from 2017 to 2023.
They first met after Vishnu hosted a small coaching camp for college students from Gukesh’s college, Velammal Vidyalaya, which has an incredible popularity for producing chess abilities. Growing a powerful mentality was a giant focus level for Vishnu. “We mentioned a variety of non-chess stuff about mindsets and the way individuals in excessive sports activities behave,” Vishnu tells The Athletic.
“We talked so much about Alex Honnold (the American free solo climber) and lots of excessive athletes and what sort of mindsets they attempt to preserve. I at all times emphasised that chess methods come and go and could be performed round with, so there is no such thing as a one proper approach. However there is usually a proper mindset that guarantees efficiency, and that’s the distinction between gamers quite than the chess itself.”
His dad and mom by no means concerned themselves in coaching, as a substitute ensuring life exterior of the game was settled. However, with the approval of Gukesh’s dad and mom, Vishnu, experimenting along with his approaches, resisted using laptop or chess engine help till Gukesh was a grandmaster, the goal being to encourage Gukesh to assume on his personal.
Chess had a deeper impression, too, on {the teenager}. “He was once very naughty,” says Rajini.
“He was the one youngster so no matter he wished he needed to get it typically. He used to have all these tantrums however as soon as he began chess he grew to become very observant, how he’s now. He began changing into extra calm, affected person, and observant. Chess has modified him.”
Enjoying chess could cause psychological fatigue due to the focus required. But, Gukesh’s urge for food for the sport as soon as noticed him play 276 video games in 30 tournaments throughout 13 international locations over 16 months whereas squeezing in 10am-5pm classes with Vishnu in between competitions.
The longest recreation at a World Chess Championship was in 2021 between Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, taking seven hours and 45 minutes. Such psychological focus can take its toll. After the ‘Moscow Marathon’, a World Championship contest between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov that lasted 5 months and 48 video games, Karpov informed a Russian journal he had misplaced 10kg (22lb) in weight.
Gukesh may turn into the primary Indian world champion since Viswanathan Anand (Photograph by Marcus Brandt/image alliance by way of Getty Photos)
In Singapore, every classical recreation will observe the time management of 120 minutes for the primary 40 strikes, adopted by half-hour for the remainder of the sport. From transfer 41, a 30-second increment will begin. Gamers should stay poised, balanced and contemplate their strikes deeply. A rating of seven.5 factors or extra will win the world title. If the gamers are stage after 14 classical video games, a tie-break will probably be performed on December 13. The best mindset is paramount, says Vishnu.
“It’s most likely the largest stage that anybody would get to, it’s all about nerves while you get there,” he says.
“He has been thriving below strain. Thus far, he has at all times delivered in moments the place he has so much to lose and when issues are hanging by a thread.”
Historical past is on the road, and so too is some huge cash. The whole prize pot for the World Championship is $2.5million, with every participant incomes $200,000 for every recreation they win. The remaining prize cash will probably be break up equally between the gamers. It is a important hike from the €48,000 ($50,489 at present foreign money conversion) Gukesh banked from profitable the Challenger match.
Even when Gukesh stays calm below the Singapore highlight, his dad and mom won’t be relaxed. Padma doesn’t watch her son’s matches as a result of the expertise is simply too demanding. As a substitute, she’s going to watch for the outcomes to come back in.
“I additionally wish to do this, as a result of it’s too demanding for us, however it’s too troublesome to remain away so it’s like a hide-and-seek. So I simply watch as soon as each half an hour or hour and simply see what place he’s in,” says Rajini.
Tournaments have taken Gukesh, accompanied by his father, all around the world. There have been sacrifices, however the household have few regrets.
“Two-thirds of the yr we had been travelling for tournaments — his mom bought little or no time to spend with us. That’s one factor we remorse. In any other case, we’re very proud of how issues turned out and we’re very lucky,” says Rajini.
Coach Vishnu noticed the pursuit of greatness first-hand. “There is no such thing as a clear path to recreate what he has achieved,” he says. “A sure hyper-focus and sacrifice of an everyday childhood, an everyday college life, and an everyday social lifetime of a young person, you surrender all that and deal with the primary factor and that’s to get higher at chess.”
There are more and more extra chess prodigies, however Gukesh has labored persistently to fulfil his potential. “I had little doubt he was going to do properly however, nonetheless, he exceeded expectations,” says Vishnu.
Gukesh is following within the footsteps of an incredible: five-time world champion Anand, now the deputy president of FIDE and likewise from Chennai. Fittingly, Gukesh overtook him within the chess rankings final yr to knock him off the highest spot as India’s highest-ranked participant, a place he had held for 37 years (though Arjun Erigaisi, in fourth place, at present holds that honour).
Anand dominated an period, together with profitable 4 consecutive World Championships between 2007 and 2012.
“Enjoying the world championship and profitable the Candidates is attempting to fill Anand’s footwear, which is one thing my era tried however did not do,” says Vishnu, 35.
“So it is extremely inspiring that Gukesh is near placing India again on high of world chess, trying again and considering, ‘That was the child who was coming and coaching with me’.”
(High picture: Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto by way of Getty Photos; design Eamonn Dalton)
