Dr. Rajinikanth and his spouse Dr. Padma would often play chess collectively for enjoyable at their household dwelling in India. At all times at their aspect, watching wide-eyed, observing intensely as each bit was strategically moved on the board, was their son, Gukesh. The younger boy was captivated by the calculated black and white dance earlier than him.
“He would turn out to be fascinated with how the items labored,” Rajini tells The Athletic.
Over the subsequent few weeks, Gukesh, nonetheless recent into maturity, may turn out to be the youngest-ever chess world champion. By qualifying for this month’s 2024 World Chess Championship in Singapore, the 18-year-old is already the youngest challenger to compete for the world title.
It has been a meteoric and stunning rise for a participant who, till the summer time of 2022, was nonetheless solely ranked as a junior. “It simply occurred accidentally,” says Rajini, a surgeon. His son’s success wasn’t preordained, he says. Neither he nor his partner, who’s a microbiologist, had deliberate for or dreamed of their son changing into a phenomenon within the sport. “We by no means realized he was a particular expertise,” he explains. “It was the faculties, academics, and coaches who began to inform us, ‘This child is proficient, it’s best to pursue extra’.”
Beginning on Monday, Gukesh will play titleholder Ding Liren, 32, of China within the best-of-14 classical video games match that might final till December 13. For the primary time in 138 years, two gamers from Asia will contest the ultimate.
Gukesh, from town of Chennai on the Indian south coast, a hotbed for chess expertise, gained the eight-player 2024 Candidates match in Toronto to arrange the possibility to turn out to be the primary teenager to win the world title. Aged 17, in his first look at what is basically the ultimate spherical of World Championship qualifying, he overcame the chances and bought the higher of 5 extra celebrated gamers — all with greater rankings — incomes his title shot with 5 wins, one loss, and eight attracts to complete with a rating of 9 out of 14 (one level for a win, half some extent for a draw, and nil for a loss). Ought to he triumph in Singapore, he’ll turn out to be India’s second world chess champion after Viswanathan Anand.
Ding competes towards Gukesh through the Tata Metal Chess Event within the Netherlands in January 2023. (Picture by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua by way of Getty Photographs)
Maybe such success shouldn’t have been stunning given the data he broke as a toddler. Nonetheless younger sufficient to be included within the Worldwide Chess Federation’s (FIDE) junior world rankings, he’s the world’s top-ranked junior male participant in classical chess, the longest format of the game.
That he may beat the defending champion isn’t within the realm of fantasy, both. Gukesh, ranked fifth on the planet on this month’s classical rankings, is the in-form participant. Ding, at present twenty third, has had a troublesome reign as world champion, taking a nine-month break from the game final yr for psychological well being causes. He hasn’t gained a classical recreation since January and has solely performed 44 classical video games since changing into world champion.
“I’m nervous about dropping very badly. Hopefully it gained’t occur,” Ding mentioned to chess app TakeTakeTake in September. At this week’s press convention, Ding mentioned he wasn’t at his peak however mentioned he was at “peace” and would evaluation his earlier greatest performances for inspiration.
Ding does, nonetheless, maintain the higher report within the pair’s head-to-head classical conferences, profitable two and drawing as soon as, and his peak FIDE ranking of two,816 is greater than Gukesh’s (2,794, reached in October).
However Magnus Carlsen, the five-time world champion who opted to not defend his world crown in 2023 however continues to be ranked because the world’s greatest classical participant, has backed Gukesh to win, and urged the significance of Ding making a quick begin.
“Ding can’t lose the primary recreation… from what we’ve seen from Ding for the final one-and-a-half years, I don’t suppose he’ll come again from dropping the primary recreation, so I agree, hesitantly, that he’s going to be the primary particular person to win a recreation, however I’m very unsure,” he instructed chess.com. The Norwegian added: “The one manner there’s going to be a low variety of decisive video games is that Ding will get probabilities and retains lacking them. We may see a massacre.”
‘Gukesh D’ as he’s identified, began enjoying chess on the age of seven, profitable numerous junior tournaments earlier than changing into, on the time, the second-youngest grandmaster, aged 12 years, seven months and 17 days. Grandmaster, awarded to gamers by governing physique FIDE for all times, is the very best title outdoors of world champion; right now there are greater than 1,850.
This yr, he grew to become the third-youngest to succeed in a FIDE ranking of two,700 after claiming two gold medals on the Chess Olympiad — a biennial worldwide match that was held in Budapest, Hungary, and he’s the youngest participant to realize a ranking of two,750.
Gukesh mentioned his youth may very well be considered as a unfavourable and a constructive heading into the ultimate, however at this week’s press convention Ding mentioned his opponent performed with maturity “in lots of features”. Recognized for being an aggressive participant, Gukesh, who lately revealed he was a fan of the sitcom Buddies, is certainly one of various younger gamers making a reputation for himself within the sport. Ding lately decribed the brand new era of gamers as fearless. “There are rather a lot born after 2000, they play fearlessly and are keen to attempt totally different methods that the earlier era may not have,” he mentioned, based on The Straits Instances.
Gukesh is welcomed at Chennai Worldwide Airport after profitable two gold medals on the FIDE Chess Olympiad (Picture by R. Satish Babu/AFP by way of Getty)
One of many coaches who instructed Gukesh’s dad and mom about their son’s particular potential and helped his growth was Indian grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, who coached the prodigy from 2017 to 2023.
They first met after Vishnu hosted a small coaching camp for college kids from Gukesh’s faculty, Velammal Vidyalaya, which has an amazing popularity for producing chess abilities. Creating a robust mentality was an enormous focus level for Vishnu. “We mentioned a number of non-chess stuff about mindsets and the way folks in excessive sports activities behave,” Vishnu tells The Athletic.
“We talked rather a lot about Alex Honnold (the American free solo climber) and lots of excessive athletes and how much mindsets they attempt to preserve. I all the time emphasised that chess methods come and go and could be performed round with, so there isn’t any one proper approach. However there generally is a proper mindset that guarantees efficiency, and that’s the distinction between gamers relatively than the chess itself.”
His dad and mom by no means concerned themselves in coaching, as a substitute ensuring life outdoors of the game was settled. However, with the approval of Gukesh’s dad and mom, Vishnu, experimenting together with his approaches, resisted using laptop or chess engine help till Gukesh was a grandmaster, the purpose being to encourage Gukesh to suppose on his personal.
Chess had a deeper impression, too, on {the teenager}. “He was very naughty,” says Rajini.
“He was the one little one so no matter he needed he needed to get it generally. He used to have all these tantrums however as soon as he began chess he grew to become very observant, how he’s now. He began changing into extra calm, affected person, and observant. Chess has modified him.”
Enjoying chess could cause psychological fatigue due to the focus required. But, Gukesh’s urge for food for the sport as soon as noticed him play 276 video games in 30 tournaments throughout 13 international locations over 16 months whereas squeezing in 10am-5pm classes with Vishnu in between competitions.
The longest recreation at a World Chess Championship was in 2021 between Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, taking seven hours and 45 minutes. Such psychological focus can take its toll. After the ‘Moscow Marathon’, a World Championship contest between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov that lasted 5 months and 48 video games, Karpov instructed a Russian journal he had misplaced 10kg (22lb) in weight.
Gukesh may turn out to be the primary Indian world champion since Viswanathan Anand (Picture by Marcus Brandt/image alliance by way of Getty Photographs)
In Singapore, every classical recreation will comply with the time management of 120 minutes for the primary 40 strikes, adopted by half-hour for the remainder of the sport. From transfer 41, a 30-second increment will begin. Gamers should stay poised, balanced and contemplate their strikes deeply. A rating of seven.5 factors or extra will win the world title. If the gamers are degree after 14 classical video games, a tie-break will likely be performed on December 13. The proper mindset is paramount, says Vishnu.
“It’s in all probability the largest stage that anybody would get to, it’s all about nerves if you get there,” he says.
“He has been thriving underneath strain. Up to now, he has all the time delivered in moments the place he has rather a lot to lose and when issues are hanging by a thread.”
Historical past is on the road, and so too is some huge cash. The whole prize pot for the World Championship is $2.5million, with every participant incomes $200,000 for every recreation they win. The remaining prize cash will likely be cut up equally between the gamers. This can be a important hike from the €48,000 ($50,489 at present foreign money conversion) Gukesh banked from profitable the Challenger match.
Even when Gukesh stays calm underneath the Singapore highlight, his dad and mom won’t be relaxed. Padma doesn’t watch her son’s matches as a result of the expertise is just too worrying. As a substitute, she is going to look ahead to the outcomes to come back in.
“I additionally need to try this, as a result of it’s too worrying for us, however it’s too troublesome to remain away so it’s like a hide-and-seek. So I simply watch as soon as each half an hour or hour and simply see what place he’s in,” says Rajini.
Tournaments have taken Gukesh, accompanied by his father, all around the world. There have been sacrifices, however the household have few regrets.
“Two-thirds of the yr we have been travelling for tournaments — his mom bought little or no time to spend with us. That’s one factor we remorse. In any other case, we’re very pleased with how issues turned out and we’re very lucky,” says Rajini.
Coach Vishnu noticed the pursuit of greatness first-hand. “There is no such thing as a clear path to recreate what he has finished,” he says. “A sure hyper-focus and sacrifice of an everyday childhood, an everyday faculty life, and an everyday social lifetime of a teen, you quit all that and give attention to the principle factor and that’s to get higher at chess.”
There are more and more extra chess prodigies, however Gukesh has labored persistently to fulfil his potential. “I had little question he was going to do properly however, nonetheless, he exceeded expectations,” says Vishnu.
Gukesh is following within the footsteps of an amazing: five-time world champion Anand, now the deputy president of FIDE and in addition from Chennai. Fittingly, Gukesh overtook him within the chess rankings final yr to knock him off the highest spot as India’s highest-ranked participant, a place he had held for 37 years (though Arjun Erigaisi, in fourth place, at present holds that honour).
Anand dominated an period, together with profitable 4 consecutive World Championships between 2007 and 2012.
“Enjoying the world championship and profitable the Candidates is making an attempt to fill Anand’s sneakers, which is one thing my era tried however did not do,” says Vishnu, 35.
“So it is rather inspiring that Gukesh is near placing India again on prime of world chess, wanting again and pondering, ‘That was the child who was coming and coaching with me’.”
(Prime picture: Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto by way of Getty Photographs; design Eamonn Dalton)
