A coming of age for Indian chess

D Gukesh's rise as the youngest world champion is a tale with two pieces — one of individual and family sacrifice, and the other of legend Viswanathan Anand's payback to Indian sport

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Chess inspires multiple metaphors. It's the sport of kings for some, the king of sport for others. It's a mesh of stratagem and politics, intellect and farsightedness. It's a representation of violence on the battlefield and, at the same time, a civilised test of wits governed by rules that must never be bent.

At the ultimate level of a great game that has stood the test of time, an Indian once again climbed to the pinnacle this week. The world's second-youngest Grandmaster at 12 years, 17 months and 17 days in 2019 is now the youngest world champion in history at 18 years, 8 months and 14 days. By defeating China's defending champion Ding Liren in Singapore on Thursday, D Gukesh capped a fairytale journey. But within parenthesis of his achievement lie two important stories that must not be overlooked.