Dommaraju Gukesh Wins The Candidates’ Tournament
Dommaraju Gukesh, a 17-year-old Indian grandmaster, made history on Sunday: He won the Candidates Tournament in Toronto, held to select the challenger for the World Chess Championship in the classical time control. With that achievement, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the title match.
Garry Kasparov, the former world champion, previously held the record; he became the challenger for the crown in 1983 at age 20.
Minutes after his victory, Mr. Gukesh was tired but understandably happy. In an interview, he said that his success was a surprise. “The way that I handled myself during the event and the way that I played my games — it was really something that I am happy about,” he said. “The mental state that I achieved wasn’t something that I had really expected.” But, he added, “I think that I have really improved in the last one year and in the last few months.”
Mr. Gukesh will play Ding Liren, the reigning champion from China, in a title match. The International Chess Federation, the game’s governing body, has not yet announced the site or the dates of the match, but according to its regulations it should take place in November. It will be a best-of-14 match, with a minimum prize fund of 2 million euros (about $2.1 million).
For his victory in the Candidates, Mr. Gukesh earned 111,000 euros, or nearly $120,000.
There were eight elite players in the competition, including Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, ranked Nos. 2 and 3 in the world, and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, No. 7, who was the runner-up in the last two world title matches. Those three players tied for second, a half point behind Mr. Gukesh.
In such a small field, anyone can go on a roll and win, but Mr. Gukesh’s victory was still unexpected. Among those who doubted his chances was Magnus Carlsen, a former world champion. “I cannot imagine him winning,” Mr. Carlsen said of Mr. Gukesh in a video recorded with David Howell, an English grandmaster, just before the competition began. “He is not quite ready yet to make a leap, and I think it is more likely that he has a bad event than a good event,” he added.