India’s Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest winner of the World Chess Championship on Thursday after defeating reigning champ Ding Liren of China.
NBC News reported that the 18-year-old won a 7.5-6.5 victory in Game 14 in Singapore and earned a $2.5 million prize for his efforts.
What Gukesh Dommaraju said about his win
“It’s fitting that the match goes to the last game, because we’ve both showed a lot of fighting spirit and played some very entertaining chess,” Gukesh said at a post-match news conference, per the outlet.
Despite becoming the second-youngest grandmaster at 12, Gukesh told reporters, “Becoming the world champion doesn’t mean that I’m the best player in the world, obviously there’s Magnus, so it’s also a motivating factor,” referring to Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, who is a five-time World Chess Champion who relinquished his title in 2022 due to a lack of motivation, Reuters reported.
He didn’t expect to win
NBC said Ding made a “crucial blunder” that allowed Gukesh to triumph.
“I probably got so emotional because I did not really expect to win that position,” Gukesh told the media.
He added, “We all know who Ding is — he has been one of the best players in history for several years. For me he is the real World Champion,” according to NBC.
