Gukesh has made history by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion, achieving this milestone at the age of 18. In the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship held in Singapore, Gukesh defeated China’s Ding Liren, the reigning 2023 World Chess Champion, to claim the prestigious title.
About D. Gukesh
- Gukesh, who now holds the title of youngest World Chess Champion, is also the third youngest Grandmaster ever and the youngest player to achieve a 2750 FIDE rating.
- He is four years younger than Russian legend Garry Kasparov was when he won the World Championship from Anatoly Karpov in 1985.
- Gukesh is now the second Indian Grandmaster to win the FIDE World Chess Championship, following Viswanathan Anand, who held the title from 2000-2002 and 2007-2013 before Magnus Carlsen took it in 2013.
FIDE World Chess Championship Overview
- The FIDE World Chess Championship, established in 2000 by the International Chess Federation (FIDE),encompasses various iterations.
- Since 2005, it’s been a 128-player single-eliminationchess tournament, a vital part of the World Chess Championship qualification.
- The format includes 7 rounds of “mini-matches” with 2 games each, followed by rapid and blitz tiebreaksif needed.
- The final consists of 4 games before tiebreaks.
World Chess Championship Titles Won by Indians
Viswanathan Anand
The most successful Indian chess player, who won the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. He also won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017, and the World Blitz Chess Championship in 2000 and 2017. He is the only player to have won the world title in all three formats of chess.
Koneru Humpy
The highest rated Indian female chess player, who won the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship in 2019. She also won the Women’s Grand Prix series in 2019-2020.
Harika Dronavalli
The second highest rated Indian female chess player, who won the bronze medal at the Women’s World Chess Championship in 2012, 2015 and 2017. She also won the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix event in Chengdu in 2016.
The Evolution of Chess and the World Chess Championship
- Chess is a board game for two players. It is sometimes called Western chess or international chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi and shogi.
- The game has changed quite a bit from its earliest forms in India. The modern iteration we enjoy today wasn’t known until the 16th century.
- There were no clocks, and the pieces were not standardized until the 19th century.
- The official world championship title came into existence by the late 19th century, shortly after the first big tournaments were held and multiple styles of play had begun to fully develop.
- Although the first book on openings was published as early as 1843, theory as we know it didn’t truly evolve until the early/mid 20th century.
- Chess is an abstract strategy game and involves no hidden information. It is played on a square chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid.
FIDE Chess Titles
- In order to rank players, FIDE, International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF), and most national chess organizations use the Elo rating system developed by Arpad Elo.
- All the titles, including that of Grandmaster, are valid for life unless a player is stripped of the title for a proven offence such as cheating.
- Grandmaster: Awarded to world-class chess masters. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. FIDE awards chess’s highest honour to a player who is able to achieve a FIDE Classical or Standard rating of 2,500, plus three Grandmaster norms
- International Master: The conditions are similar to GM but less demanding. The minimum rating for the IM title is 2400.
- FIDE Master: The usual way for a player to qualify for the FIDE Master title is by achieving a FIDE rating of 2300 or more.
All India Chess Federation (AICF)
- All India Chess Federation (AICF) is the central administrative body for the game of chess in India. Founded in 1951.
- The AICF has produced Viswanathan Anand, Nihal Sarin, Pentala Harikrishna, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and many other grandmasters.
- The organisation is also in charge of managing women’s chess in India.
- AICF’s current headquarter is in New Delhi
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