Over the past three years, the youngster has achieved a series of remarkable achievements, culminating in this win.
Gukesh has achieved top performances in the last two Olympiads, winning individual gold medals. He led India to a team bronze medal in Chennai 2022 and a gold medal in Budapest 2024.
He also won Candidates, a tournament where he earned the right to challenge Ding Liren.
In his early teens, Gukesh was eliminated as a potential challenger by his mentor and former world champion Viswanathan Anand, or “Vishy Sir” as Gukesh called him. He thought Gukesh was simply not experienced enough.
In fact, Kukeshi suffered a crushing defeat in the middle stages, but gathered his strength and won the next round, ultimately taking the title.
In the title race, Gukesh lost the first game and equalized in game 3, took the lead in game 11 and Ding equalized in game 12.
Game 14 was a tense match with the title and $2.5m (£198m) in prize money on the line, but the teenager held his nerve.
Kukesh is clearly talented, but this is not a romantic story of a lone ranger surprising the world. Chennai GM sits at the pinnacle of a powerful chess ecosystem that is one of the best, perhaps one of the best, in the world.
