India’s D Gukesh reacts after beating title-holder China’s Ding Liren in the 14th and last game of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024, in Singapore, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (India’s D Gukesh reacts after beating title-holder China’s Ding Liren in the 14th and last game of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024, in Singapore, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (FIDE/Eng Chin An via PTI Photo)
It was an emotional evening for Gukesh Dommaraju, as he was still soaking in his sudden coronation as the youngest-ever chess world champion in history. But the 18-year-old had to quickly compose himself and face plenty of questions from the media in Singapore. Among the many queries thrown at him over nearly 50 minutes, a couple made him think about the future. What next for the teenager who has reached the top of the chess world?
Gukesh, even in his moment of crowning glory, didn’t lose perspective. “My goal is to play in the top level for longest time possible. I have just started my journey. I want to have a very long career and to stay at the very top,” he said, before quickly adding: “Becoming the world champion does not mean I am the best player, obviously that is Magnus.”
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Gukesh said that it will be a motivating factor for him in the years to come, knowing that there is someone out there at such a superior level. “That will help me keep doing the right things, working hard, and trying to reach the level of greatness that Magnus has achieved.”
Later, there was an even more specific question thrown at him: who would he want his next challenger to be — his teammates with who he dominated the Chess Olympiad this year or the great Carlsen? For context, Carlsen had said that he won’t be defending his World Championships title in 2022 as he was not interested in playing the match anymore having won it five times, even though it might be historically significant. “I don’t rule out participation in the future, but I also wouldn’t count on it,” Carlsen was quoted as saying by Chess.com back in July 2022.
On Thursday though, the Norwegian superstar quickly moved to confirm he’s not going to be the next challenger for Gukesh. “It’s not going to be me,” Carlsen said on Take Take Take YouTube channel. “I mean, let’s talk about Gukesh and the match and so on. I’m not part of this circus anymore,” he added.
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“Obviously playing against Magnus in a world championship would be amazing, it would be the toughest challenge there is in chess. I mean, it is up to Magnus, but I would love to test myself against the best player in the world,” Gukesh said.
READ MORE: How a rook-ie mistake cost Ding Liren the game, match and the crown
Speaking about taking on his Indian teammates potentially, Gukesh added: “Arjun, Pragg, Nihal, Vidit… – a lot of these guys are doing a lot for chess and Indian chess. We won the Olympiad which was a beautiful experience for me and the team. I’m sure we are going to have very long careers and I hope all of us will keep fighting against each other, keep pushing, keep motivating each other, and also in the team tournaments we will play together and win a lot more. I would also love to play against the Indian opponent in the World Championship.”
Saying this was the dream he had been chasing all along, Gukesh recalled another Carlsen moment from when he was a kid, at age 7. “When I was watching the match in 2013 (Vishy vs Carlsen in Chennai), I was in the stands and I was looking inside the glass box and I thought it’d be so cool to be inside one day (playing). And then when Magnus won I thought I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India and this dream that I had like more than 10 years ago has been the single most important thing in my life so far,” Gukesh said.
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Vinayakk Mohanarangan is Senior Assistant Editor and is based in New Delhi. … Read More
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