Gukesh Dommaraju facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gukesh Dommaraju |
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Gukesh in 2025
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| Country | India |
| Born | 29 May 2006 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Title | Grandmaster (2019) |
| World Champion | 2024–present |
| FIDE rating | 2563 (August 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2794 (October 2024) |
| Peak ranking | No. 3 (March 2025) |
Gukesh Dommaraju (born on May 29, 2006) is an amazing chess grandmaster from India. He is the current World Chess Champion. Gukesh is a true chess prodigy, meaning he was incredibly talented at a young age.
He is the youngest undisputed world champion ever. He also became the youngest player to reach a FIDE rating of 2750 at just 17 years old. He earned the title of grandmaster when he was 12. This makes him the third-youngest grandmaster in chess history!
Gukesh started playing chess when he was seven. He won the under-12 title at the World Youth Chess Championship in 2018. He also won many gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship. He became an International Master in March 2017. On January 15, 2019, at 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days old, he became the second-youngest grandmaster at that time, after Sergey Karjakin.
Gukesh was part of the Indian team that won a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games. He also won a team bronze and an individual gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. In September 2023, Gukesh became the top-rated Indian player. He surpassed Viswanathan Anand's record, which had stood for 37 years! 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. He then successfully challenged Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship. This made him the 18th and youngest undisputed world champion. He was 18 years and 195 days old.
Contents
Early Life and Chess Beginnings
Birth and Family
Gukesh was born on May 29, 2006, in Chennai, India. His family is from the Telugu people group. His mother, Padmakumari, is a microbiologist. His father, Rajinikanth, is an ENT surgeon. His father moved to Chennai for his medical career. Gukesh went to Velammal Vidyalaya School in Chennai.
How Gukesh Started Chess
Gukesh learned to play chess in 2013 when he was seven. He started having regular chess lessons three times a week. He decided to leave school after fourth grade to focus completely on his chess career. In 2017, his father also quit his job to travel with Gukesh to tournaments. Friends of his parents helped pay for his travels and training. Gukesh often talks about how grateful he is for their support. His amazing talent was noticed early on. He benefited from India's strong chess community.
Gukesh's Chess Journey
Early Career (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 group. At the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship, he won five gold medals. These were in individual rapid, blitz, and classical games. He also won in team rapid and blitz competitions. He became an International Master in March 2017.
On January 15, 2019, Gukesh became the second-youngest grandmaster in history at that time. He was 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days old. Only Sergey Karjakin was younger when he became a grandmaster. In June 2021, Gukesh won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, called the Gelfand Challenge. He scored 14 out of 19 points.
Olympiad Gold and Candidates Qualification (2022–2023)
In August 2022, Gukesh won an individual gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai. He scored 9 out of 11 points. He was part of the India-2 team that won the bronze medal in the same event. In September 2022, he helped the Indian team win a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games.
In the same month, Gukesh reached a FIDE rating of over 2700 for the first time. His rating was 2726. He was the third-youngest player to do this, after Wei Yi and Alireza Firouzja. In October 2022, Gukesh became the youngest player to beat Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen was the reigning World Chess Champion at that time.
In August 2023, Gukesh became the youngest player ever to reach a rating of 2750. He broke Carlsen's record. At the Chess World Cup 2023 in Baku, he reached the quarterfinals. He lost to Carlsen there. In September 2023, Gukesh became the top-ranked Indian player. He passed Viswanathan Anand, who had been number one for 37 years.
In December 2023, Gukesh qualified for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. This tournament decides who will challenge the World Champion. He was the third-youngest player to qualify for a Candidates tournament. Only Bobby Fischer and Carlsen were younger.
Double Gold and World Champion (2024)
In January 2024, Gukesh tied for first place at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024. He scored 8½ out of 13 rounds. He won against Anish Giri in the semifinals. He then lost to Wei Yi in the tiebreaker finals.
In April 2024, Gukesh played in the Candidates Tournament in Toronto. He won five games. He beat R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi playing as Black. He beat Firouzja playing as White. He also beat Nijat Abasov playing as both Black and White. He only lost one game, against Firouzja. He finished with nine points from 14 rounds and won the tournament. He was the youngest-ever winner of the Candidates tournament.
In September 2024, Gukesh played in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest with the Indian team. He did not lose a single match. He won an individual gold medal with a score of nine out of ten rounds. His excellent play helped India win their first-ever team gold medal at the Olympiad. Because of this win, Gukesh entered the top-five in the FIDE rankings on October 1, 2024.
The 2024 World Chess Championship was held in November–December 2024. Gukesh played against Ding Liren. Gukesh won three games, Ding won two, and they had nine draws. Gukesh won the 14th and final match on December 12, 2024. He won the World Chess Championship with a score of 7½–6½. This win made him the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion. He broke the record previously held by Garry Kasparov. FIDE said Gukesh's play was "near-perfect." Ding Liren said it was his best tournament of the year. He had no regrets about losing the title to Gukesh.
Recent Achievements (2025)
On January 17, 2025, Gukesh received the important Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. He got it from President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. This was for his World Championship win. He was 18 years, 7 months, and 20 days old. He was also the youngest person ever to receive this award. He broke the record previously held by Abhinav Bindra.
In January 2025, Gukesh tied for first place with R Praggnanandhaa at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025. He scored 8½ out of 13 rounds. He lost 2–1 in the blitz tiebreaker.
Gukesh also played in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. This is a series of Chess960 tournaments. In February 2025, he finished eighth in the first event in Weissenhaus. In April 2025, he finished eleventh in the second event in Paris.
In May 2025, Gukesh played in the second part of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 in Romania. He finished sixth there.
At Norway Chess 2025, Gukesh finished 3rd, scoring 14.5 points. He had two important wins. On his 19th birthday, he beat World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura. This was in the third round. Gukesh had lost his first two games against Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi. But he came back strong by beating Nakamura in 42 moves. This game was special because he put Nakamura, who is known for fast play, under a lot of time pressure. After the game, Gukesh said better time management helped him win. He called it a fresh start to the event. On June 1, 2025, Gukesh also defeated Carlsen in the 6th round.
Playing Style
Gukesh plays a "reactive" game. This means he responds well to his opponent's moves. He is very good at calculating moves even when he has little time. This often leads to exciting and complex games. His mentor, Anand, says Gukesh has "incredible calculating abilities." Carlsen describes Gukesh's style as "pure counter." He also says Gukesh makes very few mistakes. This makes him "an extremely dangerous opponent." Chess writer Raymond Keene says Gukesh is good at keeping the game going. He avoids bad positions and also avoids making the game a quick draw. His style has been compared to former world champion Anatoly Karpov. Karpov was known for making small, steady gains that opponents could not stop.
Awards and Recognition
Gukesh has received several important awards for his chess achievements:
- In 2023, the Asian Chess Federation named him "Player of the Year."
- In 2024, he was nominated for "Chess Player of the Year" at the Times of India Sports Awards.
- In 2025, he won the Khel Ratna Award for "Spectacular Performance in Sports."
- In 2025, he also won "Sportsman of the Year" and "Chess Player of the Year Male" at the Times of India Sports Awards.
See also
In Spanish: Gukesh D para niños
- Chess in India
