D. Gukesh wins Best Young Achiever (Boy) at Sportstar Aces Awards 2023

Achieving an Elo rating of 2700 and an eight-match winning streak at the Chess Olympiad were among the year’s highlights for D. Gukesh.

Published : Feb 27, 2023 21:30 IST , MUMBAI

In 2022, Gukesh became the youngest player to defeat Magnus Carlsen in an online tournament, since the latter became world champion.
In 2022, Gukesh became the youngest player to defeat Magnus Carlsen in an online tournament, since the latter became world champion. | Photo Credit: Team Sportstar
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In 2022, Gukesh became the youngest player to defeat Magnus Carlsen in an online tournament, since the latter became world champion. | Photo Credit: Team Sportstar

Indian grandmaster D. Gukesh won the Sportstar Aces award for the Best Young Achiever (Boy) at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai on Monday.

Gukesh had a year to remember as he went on to break several records in 2022.

In March, Gukesh became only the sixth Indian to break the 2700 Elo rating mark, and the youngest Indian Grandmaster to be rated above 2700. He achieved this feat after defeating GM Le Quang Liem in the Biel Chess Festival.

“I am thankful to Sportstar for recognising my efforts and giving me this award, which is a great honour for me. 2022 was a very special year for me. I learnt a lot of things, I won quite a few strong open tournaments. Also, the Olympiad was a very memorable experience for me. I hope to keep learning and getting better. Hopefully, 2023 will be even better,” Gukesh said via video conferencing.

At 16 years 1 month and 7 days, Gukesh also became the third youngest in the world to be rated above 2700.

In August, while representing India in the 44th Chess Olympiad at Mahabalipuram, the 16-year-old stunned the world with his phenomenal 2867 Elo rating performance. He clinched the gold medal on the first board with a record-breaking score of 9.0/11.

In the same month, he broke into the top 20 in the world rankings. Playing in the Turkish Isbank Chess Super League, Gukesh reached his career-best ranking (World No. 18) in live rankings and 2735.9 as per live ratings.

Later in October, in the Aimchess Rapid tournament, Gukesh became the youngest player to defeat Magnus Carlsen in an online tournament, since the latter became world champion.

Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, former India hockey captain M. M. Somaya, chess great Viswanathan Anand, former India football skipper Bhaichung Bhutia, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and Olympians Anjali Bhagwat and Aparna Popat are the members of the Sportstar Aces 2023 jury.

The event is supported by IDFC First Bank, Indian Oil, India Cements, United India, Ramaiah University, Experimenta Science Center GD Naidu Charity, Finolex Pipes, LIC, BPCL, Samsonite, Big Basket, Nippon Paint, CRICHQ, Wordswork, NewsX and Casagrand.

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