Teenage chess prodigy becomes youngest world champion

The world of chess crowned its youngest-ever world champion on Thursday.

Gukesh Dommaraju, an 18-year-old prodigy from India, defeated defending champion Ding Liren of China in the best-of-14 final match of the World Chess Championship in Singapore. The 7.5-6.5 victory earned Dommaraju the $2.5 million grand prize.

Russian chess legend Garry Kasparov was the previous youngest world champion, winning the title in 1958 at the age of 22.

Wednesday's grueling game left the series tied at 6.5. According to chess analysts, a critical mistake by Ding in Thursday's Game 14 allowed Dommaraju to win the title.

Dommaraju became the 18th world champion and India's second grandmaster to win the world title, joining Viswanthan Anand.

The tournament was once again without five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway. The 34-year-old Carlsen declined to defend his title in 2022.

Carlsen's absence was not lost on Dommaraju.

“Being world champion doesn’t mean I am the best player. There is Magnus," Dommaraju told reporters. "But it’s motivating to know that there is always someone at a very high level, someone that will push me to keep reaching to attain the level of greatness that Magnus has achieved."

Dommaraju then made a boxing-style callout of the Norwegian.

“Playing against Magnus in a world championship would be the toughest challenge in chess," Dommaraju said. "It is up to him, but I would love to test myself against him."

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