Making more than a billion people proud, India's D Gukesh made history on Thursday by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion. D Gukesh ended China's supremacy in the event. Dommaraju Gukesh also equaled former Indian chess master Vishwanathan Anand in terms of a record. The final match of the World Chess Champion 2024 was played in Singapore on Thursday. In this important match, D Gukesh was up against the defending champion and Chinese chess master Ding Liren. In the title match, D Gukesh defeated Ding Liren in the 14th game and captured the title.
D Gukesh is only 18 years old and has become a World Chess Champion. Hence, fans around the world are digging deep to know more about D Gukesh's life. For the unversed, D Gukesh started playing chess when he was only 6.5 or 7 years old.
A few months back, D Gukesh attended an event at IIT Madras where he opened up about how he developed his interest in chess and also shared an anecdote about a summer camp school that really helped him to become a chess prodigy. Below is an excerpt from the interaction-
How did D Gukesh develop an interest in Chess?
D Gukesh said, "It was in very normal way for anyone who is starting to play a sport. I saw my parents and some of my family members play chess as a hobby. Then, I was just a kid and I was just curious about the game. And when I was 6.5 or 7 years old, I was fortunate there was summer camp in my school. In general my parents wanted to enroll in a lot activities. I was lucky that I enrolled in chess. My teachers thought I am really interested in the game. I am really focused and I have some gift of playing chess. Thereafter, I was advised to play chess further."
How did summer camp teacher become the first motivating factor for D Gukesh?
On being asked to share about his chess career, D Gukesh shared the story of his summer camp teacher and how he became one of the first motivating factors for him. Gukesh said, "It was summer camp at my school. There was a teacher Mr. Venugopal Sir. It was like a group session and he came up with many creative ideas to develop his interest in chess at the starting level. So, he came up with the idea that at the end of class he would just give us like a printout or some book with a few puzzles that we are supposed to solve. He will put up a challenge whoever solves these puzzles the first, he or she will get gifts like chocolate or pen."
"I remember I used to be so motivated by that. I used to sit late night to solve that. I used to finish my school homework and spend my nights solving those puzzles. The next day I usually was the first person to give the answer. I used to get all the gifts. Other kids were quite angry about it but I was quite happy," added Gukesh.
D Gukesh Education
Domaraju Gukesh was born in Chennai on 6 May 2006. He started playing chess at the age of seven. He loved playing chess so much that he gave up further studies after class four. Indian chess grandmaster Gukesh's father is an ENT surgeon and his mother Padma is a microbiologist. Gukesh's father is a Surgeon while his mother is microbiologist.
Gukesh was introduced to chess by his school, part of the Velammal group of schools in Chennai, which is also known for producing talents like Praggnanandhaa R. His first coach, Mr. Bhaskar, helped him become a FIDE-rated player within just six months of starting his chess journey.