Gukesh D

Indian chess grandmaster (born 2006)

Gukesh Dommaraju
Gukesh in 2024
Full nameDommaraju Gukesh
CountryIndia
Born (2006-05-29) 29 May 2006 (age 17)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
TitleGrandmaster (2019)
FIDE rating2743 (April 2024)
Peak rating2758 (September 2023)
RankingNo. 16 (April 2024)
Peak rankingNo. 8 (September 2023)
Medal record
Representing  India
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Men's team

Dommaraju Gukesh (born 29 May 2006), is an Indian chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, he is the third-youngest person in history to qualify for the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in March 2019.[1]

Early life

Gukesh was born on 29 May 2006 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu into a Telugu family hailing from Godavari delta of Andhra Pradesh. His father, Rajnikanth, is an ear, nose and throat surgeon, and his mother, Padma, is a microbiologist.[2] He learned to play chess at the age of seven.[3] He studies in Velammal Vidyalaya, Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai.[4]

Career

Gukesh won the Under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015,[5] and the World Youth Chess Championships in 2018 in the Under 12 category.[6] He also won five gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championships, in the U-12 individual rapid and blitz, U-12 team rapid and blitz, and the U-12 individual classical formats.[7] He completed the requirements for the title of International Master in March 2018 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open.[8]

Gukesh became the second-youngest grandmaster in history on 15 January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days.[9] He almost surpassed Sergey Karjakin as the youngest grandmaster ever,[10] but missed the record by 17 days.

In June 2021, he won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, scoring 14 out of 19 points.[11] In August 2022, he began the 44th Chess Olympiad with a perfect score of 8/8, helping India-2 defeat the No. 1 ranked U.S. in the 8th match. He finished with a score of 9 out 11, a 2867 Elo performance, earning the gold medal on the 1st board.


In October 2022, Gukesh became the youngest player to beat Magnus Carlsen since the latter became World Champion, in the Aimchess Rapid tournament.[12]

In February 2023, Gukesh participated in the first edition of the WR Masters tournament in Düsseldorf, where he finished on 5½/9, tying for first place with Levon Aronian and Ian Nepomniachtchi. He came second to Aronian in the tiebreaks.

In August 2023, Gukesh participated in the Chess World Cup 2023. He advanced to Quarter Final of the tournament before being defeated by Magnus Carlsen.[13] During the tournament, he became the youngest player Ever to reach a rating of 2750+.[14]

In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh officially surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player, marking the first time in 37 years that Anand was not the top-ranked Indian player.[15][16]

In December 2023, with the end of the FIDE Circuit, Gukesh qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament.[17] Gukesh had placed second in the Circuit, but Fabiano Caruana, the winner, had already qualified through the World Cup.[18]

In January 2024, Gukesh participated in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024. He scored 8.5 points from 13 games (6 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses) to finish in a 4-way tie for 1st place. In Round 12, he had a winning position against R Praggnanandhaa, but blundered into a threefold repetition. In tiebreaks he defeated Anish Giri in semifinals but lost to Wei Yi in the finals.[19]

References

  1. ^ He is also the third youngest player in the world (after Wei Yi and Alireza Firouzja) to reach 2700 in classical. "List of titles approved by the 2019 1st quarter PB in Astana, Kazakhstan". FIDE. 2019-03-11. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  2. ^ Prasad RS (16 January 2019). "My achievement hasn't yet sunk in: Gukesh". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. ^ Lokpria Vasudevan (17 January 2019). "D Gukesh: Grit and determination personify India's youngest Grandmaster". India Today. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Velammal students win gold at World Cadet Chess championship 2018". Chennai Plus. 9 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  5. ^ Shubham Kumthekar; Priyadarshan Banjan (2018). "Gukesh D: The story behind a budding talent". IIFL Wealth Mumbai International Chess Tournament. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Chess: India's Gukesh, Savitha Shri bag gold medals in U-12 World Cadets Championship". scroll.in. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  7. ^ Prasad RS (13 March 2018). "Gukesh wins 5 gold medals in Asian Youth Chess Championship". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  8. ^ Prasad RS (13 March 2018). "Gukesh making all the right moves". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  9. ^ Shah, Sagar (15 January 2019). "Gukesh becomes second youngest GM in history". Chess News. ChessBase. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  10. ^ Shah, Sagar (9 December 2018). "Gukesh with 2 GM norms and 2490 Elo is on the verge of becoming world's youngest GM". ChessBase India. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  11. ^ Rao, Rakesh (14 June 2021). "Gritty Gukesh wins Gelfand Challenge". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Gukesh D vs. Carlsen, Magnus | Aimchess Rapid | Prelims 2022". chess24.com. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  13. ^ "2023 Chess WC Q/Fs: Pragg takes Erigaisi to tie-breaks; Gukesh, Vidit out". ESPN.com. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  14. ^ Schulz, André (21 July 2023). "Gukesh outstanding at the Turkish Super League, reaches 2750". ChessBase.
  15. ^ Menon, Anirudh (1 September 2023). "37 years - How the world changed as Anand stayed constant on top of Indian chess". ESPN.
  16. ^ Watson, Leon (1 September 2023). "Gukesh Ends Anand's 37-Year Reign As India's Official Number 1". Chess.com.
  17. ^ "Gukesh confirms his Candidates spot". Hindustan Times. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  18. ^ "FIDE World Championship Cycle". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  19. ^ Rao, Rakesh (29 January 2024). "TATA Steel Chess 2024: Gukesh finishes joint second in Masters, Mendonca wins Challenger". Sportstar. Retrieved 31 January 2024.

External links

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Indian Grandmasters
Chess players for India with the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM)