Bengaluru: “How in the world is he 18?” Chess followers around the globe have questioned aloud over the previous few weeks. The one time Gukesh Dommaraju – measured, stoic, and mature past his years – let his feelings sneak out was when he raised arms in celebration and sat sobbing on the board after his win. At the same time as he sobbed, Gukesh fastidiously organized the items again on the board. It was a behavior, a self-discipline in direction of the little issues. His opponent, Ding Liren, had sat throughout him, crestfallen, moments in the past, earlier than he peeled his jacket off his chair and staggered away.
India’s D Gukesh reacts after beating title-holder China’s Ding Liren to win world chess championship title. (PTI)
On Friday, Gukesh stood on the stage in Singapore by himself – the Tricolour draped over his shoulders, a gold medal and a vibrant pinkish-purple garland of orchids, Singapore’s nationwide flower, round his neck, his raised proper hand clasping the FIDE World Championship trophy, and the widest smile he had allowed himself in weeks.
“I dreamt of this moment a million times in my head,” he mentioned, “This moment was the reason I woke up every morning and the reason why I did every little thing so far. This moment in reality means more than anything else in my life.”
Gukesh thanked his dad and mom, Padma and Rajini Kanth – “This win means more to them than to me” – and invoked his religion in greater powers. “This whole (chess) journey began with a summer camp in school…In so many moments throughout my career and life, when I couldn’t see a solution, God pulled me through and showed me the right way. I thank God for performing so many miracles…”
The teenager recovered from the onerous knock of defeat within the first sport of his debut World Championship with the White items to strike again in Sport 3. You’d think about that the Sport 12 loss, so near the enterprise finish, should’ve damage.
“By definition, it should have been the 12th game, but Gukesh dealt with it really, really well and he actually felt completely fine after the game,” his coach Grzegorz Gajewski advised HT. “He told me he is confident and ready to fight in the next two games. It was similar to after his loss to (Alireza) Firouzja in the Candidates. It was more difficult for him to handle all those games where he was actually winning, but did not manage to win and even almost lost one.”
Gukesh’s manner on the board all through the competition was largely emotionless and within the post-game press conferences, each after powerful losses and missed wins, he was poised. “Not being able to perform at the very high level he expects from himself in the biggest test of his life, and making peace with the fact that you’re not always at your best, but you can still be better than your opponent. – that was a very difficult path for him,” revealed Gajewski.
Gukesh’s calm, unruffled method had seen him by way of a stacked subject within the Candidates. He grew to become its youngest winner earlier this yr. To take care of the expectations of a nation, the enormity of the event and simply the sheer nerves of sitting right down to play a high-stakes World Championship match for the primary time, isn’t precisely an 18-year-old-sized job. There have been chess followers ferrying temple choices to him from India to Singapore and the various who chanted and cheered his identify out of the country, as he walked in and after video games, have been a relentless reminder of what the win would imply to hundreds he’d didn’t know by identify.
On Thursday, he bolted out of the taking part in enviornment and into the ready arms of his father for an excellent cry, earlier than wrapping Gajewski in a bear hug. Solely after his win did he let the world see the boy inside.