Gukesh D becomes youngest world champion in history of chess, defeats Ding Liren in final game

18-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh defeated Ding Liren to become the youngest-ever World Chess Champion. He is also the second Indian to achieve this feat, surpassing Garry Kasparov's record. Gukesh secured victory with a final score of 7.5-6.5.

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh became the youngest-ever world champion when he defeated holder Ding Liren in the deciding Game 14 of the World Chess Championship match in Singapore on Thursday, December 12. At the age of 18, Gukesh also became the second Indian to win the title of world champion in classical chess, after Viswanathan Anand. Gukesh shattered the record that the renowned Russian Garry Kasparov had held. Kasparov, just 22 years old, was the youngest global chess champion in 1985.

Gukesh and Ding were tied at 6.5 points apiece going into Thursday's match finale. Before Ding made a mistake on the match's 53rd move, the 14th game, in which he was using white pieces, was on the verge of a tie. Gukesh's choice to continue playing and exert pressure on Ding, who was down a pawn, paid off handsomely as the world champion from the previous year ultimately made a mistake.

With a score of 7.5-6.5, Gukesh emerged victorious in the last classical match, which was essentially destined to end in a tie. Gukesh also became the 18th world champion and the youngest-ever undisputed world champion. Ding was looking to take the match into the tiebreaker, but Gukesh found the winning move in the end.

Gukesh was in tears and couldn't hold himself back as at 18 years of age, he became the youngest ever to be crowned the chess world champion.