World Chess Champion D Gukesh Marks Historic Win with Thrilling Bungee Jump

After making history as the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh celebrated his victory in a thrilling way—by conquering his fear of heights. The 18-year-old had promised his trainer, Polish grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski, that he would try bungee jumping if he won the World Chess Championship, and he kept his word.

Before leaving Singapore, Gukesh visited Skypark Sentosa and performed his first-ever bungee jump. He shared a video of the daring leap on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, "I did it!" In the video, Gukesh admitted to feeling "scared" but also expressed excitement about the experience.

The video quickly went viral, garnering over 964,000 views and hundreds of comments from fans celebrating his courage. One user wrote, "You did it. You made us all proud," while another commented, "You Dreamed It And Made It Come True. Much Respect."

Gukesh’s victory at the World Chess Championship last week made him the second Indian to win the prestigious title after Viswanathan Anand. He triumphed over China’s Ding Liren with a final score of 7.5 to Ding’s 6.5, claiming the crown in game 14. Gukesh described the win as the "best moment of his life" and praised Ding for his resilience during the match.

Following the victory, Ding admitted to making a blunder during the game but expressed no regrets, stating, "I will continue to play. I think I played my best tournament of the year."

In addition to his World Chess Championship win, Gukesh made history earlier this year by becoming the youngest-ever challenger in the FIDE Candidates Chess Tournament 2024.