Indian chess prodigy Gukesh D. turns 17!
Indian chess prodigy, the youngest player ever to defeat Magnus Carlsen, the youngest Indian player to cross 2700 and break into World Top 100, and the World Chess Armageddon: Asia & Oceania Champion, GM D. Gukesh, turns 17 today!
The past years, India has seen a great rise of young talents in chess including Arjun Erigaisi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Nihal Sarin, and Dommaraju Gukesh. In 2022 though, Gukesh stunned the chess world in many levels.
44h Chess Olympiad, Chennai, India
The 16-year-old Gukesh had a 3031 performance after a perfect 8/8 score with wins against Fabiano Caruana, Alexei Shirov, and Gabriel Sargissian to gain 24.4 points, and climb to No.24 and become the 2nd Indian behind Anand!
After blundering a piece against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Round 10, Gukesh came back to draw against Vincent Keymer, and take a well deserved gold medal on Board 1 of Indian B team with a 2867 total performance. With this incredible performance, Gukesh has jumped to World No.18 and became the youngest Indian player to cross 2700 and break into World Top 100!
Gukesh beats Magnus Carlsen at the Aimchess Rapid
After his unreal performance at the 44th Chess Olympiad, Gukesh amazed everyone with a win against the former World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, at the Aimchess Rapid. “What a monumental day in history,” International Master Jovanka Houska said. “It was just an incredible, incredible performance by Gukesh.”
At that time Gukesh was 16 years, 4 months and 20 days old while the previous record before Gukesh’s win was Praggnanandhaa’s 39-move victory over Carlsen in the Airthings Masters in February 2022 who at the time was 16 years 6 months and 10 days old. So this win made Gukesh the youngest player ever to defeat Magnus Carlsen!
Gukesh wins the World Chess Armageddon Series: Asia & Oceania
Gukesh won the World Chess Armageddon: Asia & Oceania in Berlin among 7 more world-class players, including Daniil Dubov, Vladimir Kramnik, Yu Yangyi, and Vidit Gujrathi with four incredible, star-spangled, final games against the 18-year-old former World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov!
In an interview with Gukesh in Berlin we got to know him a bit better. The Indian GM mentioned that his proudest moment was his win against Fabiano Caruana in Round 8 of the 44th Olympiad, and that his private life is only chess!
Awards
After another exceptional performance at the WR Chess Masters which granted him with 12 rating points and got him to World No.20 with a 2730 rating, Gukesh won the “Player of the Year” award by the Asian Chess Federation and the “Best Young Achievers Male” award at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2023.
A few days prior, Gukesh has also been awarded with the “Best Young Achievers Male” award by the Sportstar Aces Awards 2023. Gukesh was nominated for the award along with Vishwanath Suresh (Boxing), Payas Jain (Table Tennis) and S Gurunaidu (Weightlifting).
“...I am thankful to Sportstar for recognizing my efforts and giving me the award which is a great honor for me. 2022 was a very special year for me. I learned a lot of things, I won quite a few strong open tournaments also the Olympiad was a very memorable experience for me. I hope to keep learning and keep getting better. Hopefully 2023 will be even better. Thank you.” Gukesh said.
Lastly, Forbes India included Gukesh at the first-ever Showstoppers edition, a list featuring 50 personalities from entertainment and sports whose achievements have made them outperformers in their respective fields in 2022.
Gukesh is invited to Norway Chess 2023
The dazzling year of 2022 for Gukesh, gave him an invitation to one of the most prestigious and strong chess tournaments in the world, Norway Chess 2023, among world-class players like Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Alireza Firouzja.
On this very first blitz day, Gukesh turns 17! We wish him health, and fulfilment. We’re sure that his time as a Challenger is close!
