Dec 13, 2024 10:35 PM IST
D Gukesh’s rise as the youngest world championis a tale with two pieces — one of individual and family sacrifice, and the other of legend Viswanathan Anand’s payback to Indian sport
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.
The first is a story of sacrifice. Gukesh’s father, Rajini Kanth, gave up his profession as an ENT surgeon in 2018 to accompany his son to tournaments around the world, and Gukesh’s mother, Padma, a microbiologist at the Madras Medical College, took on the mantle of sole breadwinner. Gukesh stopped going to school when he was in Class 7, turning up only to write exams. Instead of living like a normal teenager, he would be locked in his room for hours — either obsessively playing online or mastering the intricacies through books and historical boards that were memorised and internalised. As his skill grew, he lived out of a suitcase, travelling from one tournament to another while his family ensured they would cut whatever corners they had to so that he got every opportunity to pursue excellence.
The fruits of this journey have been sweet, and Gukesh’s rise has been phenomenal. He was the youngest to win the Candidates — the ticket to challenge the world champion. He won individual golds in back-to-back chess Olympiads in Chennai (2022) and Budapest (2024). And he is now the youngest world champion, bettering the legendary Garry Kasparov’s mark of 22 years, 6 months and 27 days set in 1985. Late on Thursday, Kasparov said about Gukesh: “His victory caps a phenomenal year for India. Combined with Olympiad dominance, chess has returned to its cradle and the era of ‘Vishy’s children’ is truly upon us!”
And that is the second story. For “Vishy’s children” are taking over the world. When Viswanathan Anand won the first of his five World Championship titles in 2000, India had five GMs. In 2018 and 2019, India produced 15 GMs. Those batches, most of them trained directly by Anand, included Gukesh (Elo 2783, world No 5), India’s current highest-rated player Arjun Erigaisi (2801, world No 4), R Praggnanandhaa (2737, world No 17), and Nihal Sarin (2676, world No 49). Since 2019, India has added 25 more to the GMs list that stands at a staggering 85. The WestBridge Anand Chess Academy, which was started in December 2020, is striving to fulfil Anand’s dream of converting GMs to Super GMs.
If ever an example was needed of someone giving back to Indian sport, it is Anand. All-England champion Pullela Gopichand started a badminton revolution at the Gopichand Badminton Academy in 2008, producing champions such as Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, V Sai Praneeth, P Kashyap and K Srikanth. Anand has taken it a level higher with a chess revolution that has established India as the world’s powerhouse — the open and women’s Olympiad champion, and now the home of the reigning world champion.
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