Gukesh Dommaraju facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gukesh Dommaraju
Gukesh in 2025
Country	India
Born	(2006-05-29) 29 May 2006 (age 19) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Title	Grandmaster (2019)
World Champion	2024–present
FIDE rating	2563 (June 2025)
Peak rating	2794 (October 2024)
Peak ranking	No. 3 (March 2025)

Gukesh Dommaraju (born 29 May 2006) is an Indian chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest undisputed world champion, the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, and the third-youngest to have surpassed 2700 Elo at the age of 16. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 12 and is the third-youngest grandmaster in chess history.

Gukesh started playing chess at the age of 7. He won the under-12 title at the World Youth Chess Championship in 2018, and multiple gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship. He became an International Master in March 2017. On 15 January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, he became the then second-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game, after Sergey Karjakin. He was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the men's team competition.

Gukesh won the team bronze and the individual gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh became the top-rated Indian player, surpassing Viswanathan Anand's 37-year record. In the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024, he won both team and individual gold medals. In 2024, he became the youngest winner of the Candidates Tournament and successfully challenged Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship, becoming the 18th and youngest undisputed world champion, at the age of 18 years and 195 days.

Early life

Birth and background

Gukesh was born on 29 May 2006 in Chennai into a Telugu family from Andhra Pradesh. His mother, Padmakumari, is a microbiologist, and his father, Rajinikanth, is an ENT surgeon who moved to Chennai to pursue his medical career. Gukesh studied at the Velammal Vidyalaya School in Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai.

Gukesh's family hails from the village of Chenchuraju Kandriga, near Satyavedu in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. His grandfather Shankar Raju was born and raised in Chenchuraju Kandriga and worked in the Indian Railways. His son Rajinikanth, later settled in Chennai to pursue a medical career and married Padmakumari there. The family owns properties in Chenchuraju Kandriga, where Shankar Raju currently lives.

Chess beginnings

Gukesh learned to play chess in 2013, at the age of seven, and eventually began structured one-hour sessions three times a week. He dropped out of school after Class IV, that is, in elementary school, to focus on his chess career. In 2017, his father quit his job to travel with Gukesh to various tournaments; Gukesh was sponsored by his parents' friends at this time, support about which he has often spoken since. His extraordinary talent was recognized institutionally early on, and he became one of the many beneficiaries of the robust Indian chess ecosystem.

Career

Beginnings (2015–2019)

Gukesh won the under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015. He won the World Youth Chess Championship in 2018 in the under-12 category. In the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship, he won a record five gold medals in the under-12 events in individual rapid, blitz and classical formats, and the team rapid and blitz competitions. He completed the requirements for the title of International Master in March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open.

On 15 January 2019, Gukesh became the then second-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, behind Sergey Karjakin. In June 2021, he won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, scoring 14 out of 19 points.

Olympiad gold and Candidates qualification (2022–2023)

In August 2022, Gukesh won the individual gold medal on the first board in the open event at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai with a score of 9 out of 11. He was part of the India-2 team which won the bronze medal in the same tournament. In September 2022, he was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the men's team competition. In the same month, Gukesh reached a FIDE rating of over 2700 for the first time with a rating of 2726, and became the third-youngest to do so after Wei Yi and Alireza Firouzja. During the Aimchess Rapid tournament in October 2022, Gukesh became the youngest to beat Magnus Carlsen, the reigning World Chess Champion at that time.

In August 2023, Gukesh became the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2750, breaking Carlsen's record. In the Chess World Cup 2023 at Baku, he advanced to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Carlsen. In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player, marking the first time in 37 years that Anand was not the top-ranked Indian player.

In December 2023, Gukesh qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament, to be conducted to identify the challenger to Ding Liren for the World Chess Championship. He finished second in the FIDE Circuit behind Fabiano Caruana, and took the qualifying spot reserved for the winner, as Caruana had already qualified through the Chess World Cup. He was the third-youngest player to qualify for a Candidates tournament, behind Bobby Fischer and Carlsen.

Olympiad double gold and World Championship (2024–present)

Gukesh (left) playing Alireza Firouzja at the 2024 Candidates Tournament

In January 2024, Gukesh finished in a four-way tie for the first place in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024 with a score of 8½ in 13 rounds. He defeated Anish Giri in the semifinals before losing to Wei Yi in the finals of the tiebreaker.

In April 2024, Gukesh was part of the eight-player Candidates Tournament held in Toronto. He won five games against R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi playing as Black, Firouzja playing as White, and Nijat Abasov playing as both Black and White. With a single loss coming against Firouzja, he finished with nine points from 14 rounds to win the tournament. He was the youngest-ever winner of the Candidates tournament.

In September 2024, Gukesh took part in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest as part of the Indian team. He did not lose a single match and won the individual gold medal with a score of nine across ten rounds. His performance on board one helped India to win their first-ever team gold medal at the Olympiad. As a result of the win, Gukesh entered the top-five in the FIDE rankings for the first time on 1 October 2024.

The 2024 World Chess Championship was held in November–December 2024 between Gukesh and Ding Liren. Gukesh scored three wins against two wins for Ding, and nine draws in the 14 classical rounds of the tournament. He won the 14th and final match on 12 December 2024, and as a result, the World Chess Championship by a scoreline of 7½–6½. The win made him the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion, breaking the record previously held by Garry Kasparov. FIDE commented on Gukesh's gameplay as having "near-perfect accuracy", and Ding reacted that it was his best tournament of the year, and that he had no regrets in losing the title to Gukesh.

Playing style

Gukesh plays a reactive game and is notable for his ability to calculate under time pressure, which often leads to complex tactical battles in his games. His mentor Anand describes him as having "incredible calculating abilities". Carlsen regards Gukesh's style of play as "pure counter" and opined that Gukesh makes very few mistakes, which makes him "an extremely dangerous opponent under any circumstances". His style has also borne comparison with former world champion Anatoly Karpov's incremental, anaconda-like gains (so subtle that his opponent has no counter).

Performance record

Tournament and match results (2022–present)

Year	City	Tournament	Time Control	Wins	Losses	Draws	Points	Place
2022	Kanpur	58th Indian Chess Championship	Classical	6	0	5	8½/11	2
	Dhaka	Bangladesh Premier League, Bangladesh Police Board 4		8	0	2	9/11	First (Team) 3rd (Board 4)
	Delhi	19th Delhi Open		8	1	1	8½/10	2
	Online	MPL Indian Chess Tour 1st Leg	Rapid	7	4	4	25/45	3
	Reykjavík	Reykjavik Open	Classical	4	1	4	6/9	17
	La Roda	48th La Roda Open		7	0	2	8/9	First
	Menorca	1st Menorca Open		5	0	2	6/7	First
	Formentera	1st Sunway Formentera Open		6	0	4	8/10	First
	Sharjah	5th Sharjah Masters		4	1	4	6/9	6
	Online	MPL Indian Chess Tour 2nd Leg	Rapid	0	2	2	2/12	Withdrew
	Gijón	14th Gijon City Closed	Classical	7	0	2	8/9	First
	Biel/Bienne	55th Biel Chess Festival	Classical Rapid Blitz Combined	3 2 5 10	2 2 4 8	2 3 5 10	15 7/14 7½/14 29½	3 4–5 5 3
	Chennai	44th Chess Olympiad, Open Event, India 2 Board 1	Classical	8	1	2	9/11	3rd (Team) First (Board 1)
	Ankara	Turkish Super League, Turkish Airlines Sports Club Board 1	Classical	5	2	3	6½/10	2nd (Team)
	Linares	Spanish League Honour Division, C.A. Solvay Board 2		4	1	2	5/7	First (Team)
	Toledo	Spanish Rapid Team Championship, SOLVAY A Board 5	Rapid	8	1	0	8/9	2nd (Team)
	Mayrhofen	37th European Chess Club Cup, Open section, CSU ASE Superbet Board 4	Classical	4	2	1	4½/7	6th (Team) 6th (Board 1)
	Online	Aimchess Rapid Prelim	Rapid	8	4	3	27/45	2–4
		Aimchess Rapid KO Quarterfinal against Richárd Rapport		1	2	1	1½:2½	Loss
	Kolkata	Tata Steel India Chess Tournament	Rapid Blitz	3 6	3 11	3 1	4½/9 6½/18	5th 10th
	Online	Speed Chess Championship, Round of 16 against Magnus Carlsen	Blitz	7	23	0	7:23	Loss
	Baku	8th Vugar Gashimov Memorial	Rapid Blitz Combined	2 7 9	4 9 13	3 2 5	7/18 8/18 15/36	7–8 7 8th
2023	Wijk aan Zee	85th Tata Steel Masters	Classical	2	4	7	5½/13	12
	Online	Airthings Masters Play-In	Rapid	6	0	3	7½/9	First
		Airthings Masters Match Play against Vladimir Kramnik		2	0	0	2:0	Win
		Airthings Masters Division I						5–6
	Düsseldorf	WR Masters	Classical Rapid TB	2 1	0 2	7 0	5½/9 1/3	2–3
	Online	Pro Chess League	Rapid	4	2	2	5/8
		Chessable Masters Play-In	Rapid	5	3	1	5½/9	24
		Chessable Masters Match Play against Vladimir Kramnik		0	1	1	½:1½	Loss
		Chessable Masters Division III						25–32
	Berlin	Armageddon Asia and Oceania	Blitz					First
	Menorca	Menorca Open	Classical Blitz TB	5 1	0 0	4 1	7/9 1½-½	First
	Malmö	TePe Sigeman & Co tournament	Classical	2	1	4	4/7	2–4
	Sharjah	6th Sharjah Masters		3	0	6	6/9	3rd
	Stavanger	11th Norway Chess	Blitz	2	6	1	2½/9	10
			Classical Armageddon	2 5	1 1	6 —	14½/27	3rd
	Online	Junior Speed Chess Championship, Quarterfinal against Emin Ohanyan	Blitz	24	5	2	25:6	Win
		Junior Speed Chess Championship, Semi-final against Pranav V		15	9	3	16½:10½	Win
		Junior Speed Chess Championship, Final against Raunak Sadhwani		16	9	3	17½:10½	Win
	Dubai	Global Chess League, SG Alpine Warriors, Board 2	Rapid	1	7	2	2/10	4th (Team)
	Zagreb	SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia	Rapid Blitz Combined	3 9 12	2 8 10	4 1 5	10/18 9½/18 19½/36	4 6 5th
	Ankara	Turkish Super League, Turkish Airlines Sports Club Board 1	Classical	5	0	5	7½/10	First (Team)
	Baku	Chess World Cup	Classical Rapid	4 1	1 0	5 1		5–8
	Düsseldorf	World Rapid Team Championship, Kompetenzakademie Allstars Board 3	Rapid	8	1	3	9½/12	11th (Team) 4th (Board 1)
	Kolkata	Tata Steel India Chess Tournament	Rapid Blitz	2 7	2 10	5 1	4½/9 7½/18	6th 8th
	Online	Speed Chess Championship, Round of 16 against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	Blitz	7	20	3	8½:21½	Loss
	Berlin	Armageddon Grand Finale	Blitz					5–6
	Hangzhou	Asian Games, Men's Team Standard, India Board 1	Classical	3	1	4	5/8	2nd (Team)
	Doha	Qatar Masters Open		6	2	1	6½/9	8th
	Douglas	Grand Swiss Tournament	Classical	2	3	6	5/11	81
	London	13th London Chess Classic	Classical	3	2	4	5/9	3rd
	Chennai	Chennai Grand Masters		2	0	5	4½/7	First
	Samarkand	World Rapid Championship	Rapid	6	2	5	8½/13	25
		World Blitz Championship	Blitz	12	8	1	12½/21	38
2024	Wijk aan Zee	86th Tata Steel Masters	Classical	6	2	5	8½/13	2
	Various	Bundesliga West, Düsseldorfer SK Board 1		3	0	0	3/3	First (Team)
	Wangels	Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge	Rapid	3	4	0	3/7	6th
			Classical Rapid TB	1 1	3 0	2 1	2-4 1½-½	6th
	Prague	6th Prague Masters	Classical	2	2	5	4½/9	5–7
	Toronto	Candidates Tournament	Classical	5	1	8	9/14	First
	Warsaw	Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland	Rapid Blitz Combined	2 4 6	4 11 15	3 3 6	7/18 5½/18 12½/36	8–10 10 10
	Bucharest	Superbet Romania Chess Classic	Classical	1	0	8	5/9	2–4
	Zagreb	SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia	Rapid Blitz Combined	3 3 6	3 11 14	3 4 7	9/18 5/18 14/36	7 10 7
	St. Louis	11th Sinquefield Cup	Classical	0	0	9	4½/9	5–7
	Budapest	45th Chess Olympiad, Open Event, India Board 1	Classical	8	0	2	9/10	First (Team) First (Board 1)
	Vrnjačka Banja	39th European Chess Club Cup, Open section, SuperChess Board 1	Classical	2	1	4	4/7	7th (Team) 9th (Board 1)
	Singapore	World Chess Championship match against Ding Liren	Classical	3	2	9	7½/14	Win
2025	Wijk aan Zee	87th Tata Steel Masters	Classical	5	0	5	8½/13	2
	Wangels	Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam	Rapid	0	2	7	3½/9	7–8
			Classical Rapid TB	0 0	3 1	3 1	1½-4½ ½-1½	8th

World Chess Championship 2024

	Rating	Match games														Points
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Gukesh Dommaraju (IND)	2783	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	0	½	1	7½
Ding Liren (CHN)	2728	1	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	½	0	6½

Awards and nominations

Gukesh receiving Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award from president Droupadi Murmu on 17th January 2025

See also

In Spanish: Gukesh D para niños

• Chess in India
• List of Indian chess players
• List of chess grandmasters