D Gukesh: After a dream 2024, youngest chess world champion faces a tricky 2025

Dommaraju Gukesh has come a great distance since he first dreamt of changing into the youngest chess world champion on the tender age of 11, with the Chennai lad occurring to satisfy that dream seven years later on the FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore earlier this month. The 12 months 2024 was a magical one for Gukesh, one through which {the teenager} was topped the youngest Candidates champion of all time after beating the likes of Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura and later performed a starring function in India’s historic Chess Olympiad triumph.

His
victory over Ding Liren by a 7.5-6.5 margin on the World Championship in Singapore, nevertheless, would outshine all of the others because the 18-year-old not solely
grew to become the youngest world champion within the historical past of the game, he additionally grew to become the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand.

Gukesh is at the moment having fun with a well-deserved break again in Chennai, having obtained a hero’s welcome in his hometown and assembly legends corresponding to Rajinikanth. He can afford to relaxation on his laurels for just a few extra days, maybe until it’s time to usher within the new 12 months.

It should, nevertheless, solely be a matter of time earlier than the 18-year-old braces for a recent problem. And the
12 months 2025 positive has loads of them:

Gukesh faces a stern problem in three main occasions in 2025

Icons of the sport corresponding to world No 1 Magnus Carlsen, who had determined in opposition to defending his world championship final 12 months that allowed China’s Ding to take his place and beat Ian Nepomniachtchi, have questioned the standard of the battle that was on show within the World Championship in Singapore.

The sentiment of the Norwegian GM, who had defeated Vishy Anand in Chennai in 2013 to be topped world champion, was echoed by the likes of former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who known as Gukesh’s crowning second on Thursday, 12 December because the “finish of chess as we all know it”.

Having climbed to the summit of the game, Gukesh will now must show that he belongs there by beating the who’s who of chess within the triple crown of event chess in 2025 – the Tata Metal Chess in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands in January, Norway Chess at Stavanger, Norway in Could-June in addition to the Sinquefield Cup at St Louis, USA in August.

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Gukesh goals to achieve full potential after World Championship win: ‘I nonetheless have an extended approach to go’

Carlsen, whom Gukesh considers to be his idol in addition to the epitome of success within the trendy period of the game, won’t be collaborating in Tata Metal Chess subsequent month however might face the newly-crowned world champion at his dwelling occasion in the summertime months in a battle that might be the most important showdown of the 12 months.

And past Carlsen, there’s additionally the uphill process of dealing with Caruana and Nakamura, ranked 2nd and third within the newest FIDE scores with the previous in motion at Wijk aan Zee subsequent month. Gukesh had completed forward of the 2 within the Candidates Match in Toronto in April and each American grandmasters will probably be hoping to return the favour this 12 months.

Stiff competitors from fellow Indians

And let’s not overlook the truth that Gukesh faces intense competitors not simply from the Carlsens, Caruanas and Nakamuras however from fellow Indians as nicely with world No 4 Arjun Erigaisi rising a key risk for Gukesh when not competing alongside him in occasions such because the Chess Olympiad.

Arjun, who’s at the moment competing within the FIDE Speedy and Blitz World Championships in New York Metropolis, had lately made historical past as nicely by changing into solely the second Indian after Anand to attain the elusive 2800 ELO score. Along with Praggnanandhaa, who had completed runner-up in final 12 months’s Chess World Cup after dropping to Carlsen, and others corresponding to Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun will positive show a significant problem for Gukesh to overcome. Particularly since all of them know one another so nicely.