World chess champion Gukesh signals India's rise to the top

It was pandemonium on the Chessbase India livestream on Dec 12 as the final stages of the Fide World Championship were playing out.

- Devangshu Datta

There was a roar in the Mumbai Habitat Studio, and the YouTube and Twitch TV chat exploded as 140,000 fans realised Gukesh Dommaraju was winning. There was even a muted roar in the playing venue as defending champion Ding Liren resigned. Chessbase India CEO Sagar Shah said: "We'll have to refund the tickets we've sold for the tiebreaks!"

The noise has continued to ratchet up since, with India's newspapers, news channels and social media continuing to congratulate the new world champion. The Prime Minister was among those offering kudos.

Gukesh's reign as the youngest world chess champion started in almost anti-climactic fashion. The title match was tied at two wins each after 13 games. Game 14, the last game at long time controls, was meandering to what looked like an inevitable draw. The cognoscenti had already started discussing the probability of tiebreaks at short time controls. Quite a few fans had wandered out of the Resorts World Sentosa or stopped watching the feed.

Then, Ding blundered on move 55. The footage of the next few minutes has gone viral. Gukesh, like every other chess player, cultivated a poker face as he sat and calculated at the board. But he suddenly leaned forward and his eyes widened. As he fought to regain control of his nerves, he made his move.

Ding had by then realised the magnitude of the error. And suddenly, three moves later, it was over. Ding extended his hand, they signed scoresheets and the defeated champion left the stage. Gukesh continued to sit, mechanically setting the pieces back into the start position with tears rolling down his face.