Title: A legend, made: On D. Gukesh, the world’s youngest chess champion
Eighteen-year-old D. Gukesh has made history by becoming the 18th world chess champion, which will make him the youngest to do so and emulating the doyen of Indian chess, Viswanathan Anand, the only other Indian to achieve the honour. Gukesh managed his feat after a blunder made by the reigning world champion, Ding Liren of China, on the 55th move, Rf2, in the 14th and final classical game of the match. The game was headed towards a draw, but with Gukesh pressing for any advantage in a rook-bishop-pawn endgame and having an extra pawn, it took just one misstep for Ding to lose his crown. Ding was in poor form prior to the match but the Chinese GM proved his mettle by winning the first game, setting up a strong contest. Gukesh won Game 4 to tie the match and after a series of draws, Gukesh played an enterprising Game 11 to take the lead; Ding fought back brilliantly to tie the match again with a strong win in Game 12. The strategies of both players were evident. Gukesh played strong openings and exhibited tenacity in trying to gain advantages in near equal positions as the games progressed. Ding’s plan seemed to be to secure a stalemate in the classical games and to drag the match into the shorter rapid and if need be, blitz formats, and to use his strength in terms of experience. Sticking to his strategy of pushing through equal positions, Gukesh had the last laugh.
The Chennai-born Grandmaster’s mental toughness and wisdom beyond his age have been his calling card. His steady rise was due to his dedication and his accelerated path to glory was helped by the work done by his seconds — Gukesh revealed their names only after the match — besides the mentoring by GM Anand’s WestBridge Anand Chess Academy. His versatile game, built on an innate ability to calculate moves deeply on the board, kept him in good stead against his more experienced opponent. The surge of young Indian talent to the top echelons of world chess in recent years — compatriot GMs Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa are in the top 15 along with Gukesh — raised expectations of another Indian world champion in chess. The youngsters have pushed each other to do their best. Gukesh won a strong Candidates tournament to emerge as Ding’s challenger and his prowess was evident following his individual gold winning performances in the Chennai and Budapest Chess Olympiads, the latter being India’s first gold in the team event. His next frontier would be to reach the heights scaled by the world’s strongest chess player, Magnus Carlsen. Gukesh becoming the world champion would also motivate his Indian compatriots and will add a fillip to the growth of modern chess as a sport and vocation in the country of its birth.
Meaning of the word:
| Word | Meaning | Synonyms | Antonyms |
| Emulating | “Emulating” means to imitate or strive to equal or excel, often in a way that shows admiration or respect. It can also mean copying someone’s actions, behavior, or achievements with the goal of matching or surpassing them. | Imitating Mimicking Copying Replicating | Rejecting Distancing Neglecting Disregarding |
| Progressed | “Progressed” is the past tense of “progress” and means to have moved forward, advanced, or improved in some way. | Advanced Evolved Improved Developed | Regressed Declined Deteriorated Retrogressed |
| Versatile | “Versatile” refers to someone or something that is adaptable and capable of doing many different things or serving various functions. | Adaptable Flexible Multifaceted All-around | Limited Specialized Narrow Inflexible |
