Dr. Rajinikanth and his spouse Dr. Padma would often play chess collectively for enjoyable at their household dwelling in India. All the time 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 following 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 shocking 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 colleges, lecturers, and coaches who began to inform us, ‘This child is gifted, you must 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 actually the ultimate spherical of World Championship qualifying, he overcame the percentages and received 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 a degree for a draw, and 0 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 in opposition to Gukesh through the Tata Metal Chess Match within the Netherlands in January 2023. (Photograph by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua through Getty Photographs)
Maybe such success shouldn’t have been shocking 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 this planet on this month’s classical rankings, is the in-form participant. Ding, at the moment 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 frightened about shedding very badly. Hopefully it gained’t occur,” Ding stated to chess app TakeTakeTake in September. At this week’s press convention, Ding stated he wasn’t at his peak however stated he was at “peace” and would evaluate his earlier finest performances for inspiration.
Ding does, nonetheless, maintain the higher file within the pair’s head-to-head classical conferences, successful two and drawing as soon as, and his peak FIDE score 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 remains to be ranked because the world’s finest 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 shedding the primary recreation, so I agree, hesitantly, that he’s going to be the primary individual to win a recreation, however I’m very unsure,” he advised chess.com. The Norwegian added: “The one method 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 recognized, began taking part in chess on the age of seven, successful 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 best title exterior of world champion; at present there are greater than 1,850.
This yr, he grew to become the third-youngest to succeed in a FIDE score 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 score of two,750.
Gukesh stated his youth could possibly be seen as a unfavorable and a constructive heading into the ultimate, however at this week’s press convention Ding stated his opponent performed with maturity “in lots of elements”. Recognized for being an aggressive participant, Gukesh, who just lately revealed he was a fan of the sitcom Mates, is considered one of quite a lot of younger gamers making a reputation for himself within the sport. Ding just lately decribed the brand new technology of gamers as fearless. “There are so much born after 2000, they play fearlessly and are keen to attempt totally different methods that the earlier technology may not have,” he stated, based on The Straits Occasions.
Gukesh is welcomed at Chennai Worldwide Airport after successful two gold medals on the FIDE Chess Olympiad (Photograph by R. Satish Babu/AFP through Getty)
One of many coaches who advised Gukesh’s mother and father about their son’s particular means and helped his improvement 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 college, Velammal Vidyalaya, which has a fantastic status for producing chess abilities. Growing a powerful 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 so much about Alex Honnold (the American free solo climber) and lots of excessive athletes and what sort of mindsets they attempt to maintain. I all the time emphasised that chess methods come and go and will be performed round with, so there is no such thing as a one proper method. However there generally is a proper mindset that guarantees efficiency, and that’s the distinction between gamers somewhat than the chess itself.”
His mother and father by no means concerned themselves in coaching, as an alternative ensuring life exterior of the game was settled. However, with the approval of Gukesh’s mother and father, Vishnu, experimenting together with his approaches, resisted using laptop or chess engine help till Gukesh was a grandmaster, the intention being to encourage Gukesh to suppose on his personal.
Chess had a deeper affect, too, on {the teenager}. “He was once very naughty,” says Rajini.
“He was the one youngster so no matter he wished 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.”
Taking part in chess may 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 nations over 16 months whereas squeezing in 10am-5pm periods 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 advised a Russian journal he had misplaced 10kg (22lb) in weight.
Gukesh may turn out to be the primary Indian world champion since Viswanathan Anand (Photograph by Marcus Brandt/image alliance through 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 think about 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 probably be performed on December 13. The best mindset is paramount, says Vishnu.
“It’s in all probability the largest stage that anybody would get to, it’s all about nerves whenever you get there,” he says.
“He has been thriving underneath stress. To this point, he has all the time delivered in moments the place he has so much 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 probably be break up equally between the gamers. This can be a important hike from the €48,000 ($50,489 at present forex conversion) Gukesh banked from successful the Challenger match.
Even when Gukesh stays calm underneath the Singapore highlight, his mother and father is not going to be relaxed. Padma doesn’t watch her son’s matches as a result of the expertise is simply too irritating. As an alternative, she is going to await the outcomes to come back in.
“I additionally wish to try this, as a result of it’s too irritating 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 had been travelling for tournaments — his mom received little or no time to spend with us. That’s one factor we remorse. In any other case, we’re very proud of 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 carried out,” he says. “A sure hyper-focus and sacrifice of a daily childhood, a daily college life, and a daily social lifetime of an adolescent, you quit all that and give attention to the primary 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 doubt he was going to do nicely however, nonetheless, he exceeded expectations,” says Vishnu.
Gukesh is following within the footsteps of a fantastic: 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 the moment holds that honour).
Anand dominated an period, together with successful 4 consecutive World Championships between 2007 and 2012.
“Taking part in the world championship and successful the Candidates is attempting to fill Anand’s footwear, which is one thing my technology tried however didn’t do,” says Vishnu, 35.
“So it is extremely inspiring that Gukesh is near placing India again on high of world chess, wanting again and pondering, ‘That was the child who was coming and coaching with me’.”
(High picture: Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto through Getty Photographs; design Eamonn Dalton)