17 year old Gukesh makes chess history

Indian chess Grandmaster Gukesh D created history. The 17-year-old secured a win at the Candidates tournament after 14 rounds of matches that extended over three weeks. He now has the opportunity to contest for the World Championship. Gukesh has also become the youngest chess player with this distinction.

Gukesh has become the second Indian to reach the World Championship final, following in the footsteps of Viswanathan Anand. He is poised to become the first teenager to vie for chess' most prestigious title, as he prepares to face China's Ding Liren later this year in the title match.

A chess prodigy, Gukesh holds several remarkable titles in the chess world: he ranks as the third-youngest Grandmaster, the third-youngest to achieve a chess rating of 2700, the youngest to reach a rating of 2750, and the youngest to secure victory in the Candidates Tournament. Since its inception in 2020, he has been associated with the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA), and starting from 2023, he has been proudly sponsored solely by WestBridge Capital.

He was born into a Telugu family in Chennai. His father, Rajinikanth, specialises as an ear, nose, and throat surgeon, while his mother, Padma, is a microbiologist. He has been playing chess since he was seven.