History beckons as Gukesh and Ding battle for supremacy in Singapore

If D. Gukesh becomes the 18th World Champion, it will mark yet another great moment for Indian chess, especially in a year when the country secured twin golds at the Olympiad.

If D. Gukesh, the 18-year-old from Chennai, beats Ding Liren of China, he will become not just the 18th World Champion but also the youngest in history. He will break the record set by Garry Kasparov in 1985. | Photo Credit: AFP

If you want to search for the most exclusive clubs in international sport, you needn’t look beyond the one reserved for the World Chess Champions. In the tournament’s history, dating back to 1886, there have been only 17 World Champions. And we will soon know if we will get the 18th after the World championship match that kicks off in Singapore on November 23.

If D. Gukesh, the 18-year-old from Chennai, beats Ding Liren of China, he will become not just the 18th World Champion but also the youngest in history. He will break the record set by Garry Kasparov in 1985.

Kasparov became the 13th World Champion after defeating fellow Soviet Union player Anatoly Karpov in a remarkable match that lasted — believe it or not — more than a year. The match began on September 24, 1984, but was stopped on February 10, 1985, after 48 games. Karpov was leading 5-3, but the momentum had shifted to Kasparov, who, therefore, wasn’t happy at all with the world chess governing body FIDE’s decision, apparently made due to concerns about the players’ health.

The rule for that World Championship was that a player who won six games would be the winner. Karpov had taken a 5-0 lead after the 27th game. Then, Kasparov, the younger and hungrier player, staged one of the greatest comebacks in the history of any sport.

However, he had no option but to replay the match in late 1985. This time, FIDE ensured it would not become a never-ending war: it was set to be a best-of-24-games contest, with Karpov as the defending champion, needing only to draw the match.

But Kasparov won 13-11 thanks to his victory with the black pieces in the final game. He was 22 then and broke the 25-year-old record of Mikhail Tal. The question is whether Gukesh will surpass Kasparov’s record in this World Championship.

The current form of both Gukesh and Ding suggests it is quite probable. The consensus among the world’s top chess players is that the Indian teenager is a firm favourite.

Gukesh enters the match after playing exceptional chess over the last two years. It all began with his incredible performance at the Chennai Chess Olympiad in 2022. As the host, India fielded three teams in both the Open and Women’s sections, and he was part of an exciting India-2 team.

Expectations were higher for that team than for India’s main team. But what Gukesh did on the top board defied expectations. He won his first eight games in a row. It was a remarkable feat, defeating the top player of each country consecutively. This performance is regarded as one of the best in chess history.

At the next Chess Olympiad, two years later in Budapest, Gukesh delivered another spectacular effort on the top board, leading India to a historic gold medal.

Before that, he had won the Candidates Tournament — the qualifying event for the World Championship — in Toronto, where he topped an extremely strong field that also included two other Indians.

Ding, however, has had a different story. After defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi to win the World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, he has struggled both on and off the board. He has openly stated that he has consulted a psychiatrist.

“It doesn’t seem like I’ve been playing the way I used to,” he told  The Straits Times recently. “The assessment (about my form) is correct, and I don’t know if I will ever reach that level again.”

However, he added that he was feeling okay, had been playing basketball after dinner, and was trying not to stress himself too much. Ding has also said that he is the underdog against Gukesh.

That might sound strange in another context, with Ding being the champion and far more experienced. Gukesh, too, is taking nothing for granted.

During a recent online interaction with select media, including  Sportstar, he said he expected Ding to approach the World Championship match in the right spirit. “He will be trying his best,” Gukesh said. “My approach is to treat every game with the utmost respect and energy and give it my best. But there is no additional pressure because of what people are saying (about my chances).”

One of those people, World No. 3 Hikaru Nakamura, has said Gukesh’s chances at the World Championship are 80-20. World No. 1 and five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen isn’t as generous, though he also believes Gukesh has the upper hand.

“Gukesh is the significant favourite on current form, but in terms of peak chess ability, it is quite even,” Carlsen said shortly after winning the Tata Steel Chess India rapid title in Kolkata. “And Gukesh was quite vulnerable in the last tournament he played. All that aside, if I were to make a prediction at this stage, I would go with the guy who has played by far the best chess between these two players over the last couple of years, which is Gukesh.”

If Gukesh wins in Singapore, it will mark yet another great moment for Indian chess, especially in a year when the country secured twin golds at the Olympiad. He will be the second Indian to win the World Championship. Viswanathan Anand had won the first of his five world titles in 2000 in Tehran.

Twenty-four years later, another Asian city is gearing up for the first-ever all-Asian battle for the World Chess Championship. It is a 14-game match. If the score remains tied, games with shorter time controls will decide the winner.