Posted on 12/12/2024 11:13:40 AM PST by libh8er
Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju capped a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of chess by dethroning China’s Ding Liren to become the youngest ever world champion on Thursday in Singapore.
The 18-year-old from Chennai dramatically snatched the decisive victory from a dead-drawn position in the final contest of their best-of-14-games showdown when Ding made one of the worst blunders in the 138-year history of world championship matchplay. The 32-year-old defending champion resigned moments later after a game that lasted 58 moves and just over four hours, sealing Gukesh’s 7½-6½ win in the three-week match and rendering moot the widely expected prospect of tiebreaker matches on Friday afternoon.
In doing so, Gukesh shattered the age record held by Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he toppled Anatoly Karpov in 1985.
Gukesh admitted he didn’t initially recognize Ding’s rook move (55 Rf2??) as a blunder, saying it took a few seconds to spot that his opponent’s bishop was trapped. He could barely conceal his excitement upon the discovery, while a devastated Ding could only bury his head in his hands.
“When I realized it, it was probably the best moment of my life,” said Gukesh, who brings home the $1.35m (£1.06m) winner’s share of the $2.5m prize fund along with the sport’s most prestigious title.
Ding, playing with the favored white pieces, was slightly better out of the opening but Gukesh was able to unlock his pieces and stabilize in the middlegame. The draw appeared inevitable when material starting coming off the board in bunches starting with move 19.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
What was the money-line in Vegas?
Great question! 🤔
Probably more people watching this than the WNBA.
I hate it when that happens! My money was on Ding it I guess Gukesh had a better quarterback
Ding got rung.......................
“Ding made one of the worst blunders in the 138-year history of world championship matchplay.”
Dumbass.
That said, kudos to Gukesh for never backing down and trying to win every game. The crown is back in the country that invented the game.
Growing up, one of my favorite books pitched at younger readers was _Every Great Chess Player Was Once A Beginner._ Part of the draw were the Terry Gilliamesque illustrations. Great fun to read, informative, and a few chess puzzles to solve.
“Probably more people watching this than the WNBA.”
Chess is racist.
Thanks for the book info. Just got it for my gd. :)
Singapore, Oriental setting
And the city don’t know what the city is getting ...
Did Gukesh Dommaraju apologize to the world for his skin color and privilage?
Otherwise, it didn’t count.
Especially when you consider white gets to move first and has an actual advantage, and that more often than not black loses to white. A "loss" being defined as the black king getting surrounded and tied up by white's forces, unable to move. One of the most racist games ever !
It’s a fun book at any age! I hope you both have fun playing chess together!
ISWYDT! 😄
Didn't Persia invent it?
Since the Tirolean spa had the chess boards in it
Unclear, the Persians probably inherited and perfected it.
They did invent the term “Shah Mat” (the King is dead), which became “checkmate”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.