“Relieved and happy” - D Gukesh basks in Candidates Chess Tournament triumph glory

India’s 17-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh rewrote a piece of history when he became the youngest ever challenger to win the Candidates Chess Tournament. Gukesh played out a draw against Hikaru Nakamura in the final round to top the table with nine points.

Gukesh rewrote Garyy Kasparov’s 40-year-old record to become the youngest ever challenger to the world title. Kasparov was 22 when he won the Candidates tournament in 1984.

The Candidates Chess Tournament’s winner will play the world champion, Ding Liren, in the World Championship that will be held later this year. The dates and venue of the World Championship are yet to be announced.

After Gukesh finished with nine points, all eyes were on the game between America’s Fabiano Caruana and Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. Had either won the game, there would have been a play-off between Gukesh and the winner to decide who goes to the World Championship game as the winner, and Gukesh would have been on a nine-point joint lead. Since the game ended in a draw, Gukesh won the Candidates tournament.

Gukesh said he was so happy after the win. “(I am) so relieved and so happy. I was following this crazy game (between Caruana and Nepomniachtchi), and then I went for a walk with my second (Gregorz Gazevsky) and I think that helped,” Gukesh told the media after his win.

Caruana, Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura all ended with 8.5 points each and shared the second place. Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa finished with seven points and ended in fifth place.

The Chennai-based teen bettered Kasparov's record by quite a distance, as the Russian great was 22 when he qualified in 1984 to clash with compatriot Anatoly Karpov.

Gukesh won a cash award of 88,500 Euros (approx INR 78.5 lakh). He is only the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, to win the prestigious tournament. Five-time world champion Anand's triumph came in 2014.

Anand took to social media to congratulate Gukesh. “Congratulations to @DGukesh for becoming the youngest challenger. The @WacaChess family is so proud of what you have done . I'm personally very proud of how you played and handled tough situations. Enjoy the moment,” Anand wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Another Indian Vidit Gujrathi played out a quick draw with Firouzja Alireza of France in the final round to end with six points and take the sixth spot.