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Gukesh Wins 2024 FIDE World Championship — 13 Conclusions
Gukesh Dommaraju with the world championship trophy. Photo: Eng Chin An/FIDE.

Gukesh Wins 2024 FIDE World Championship — 13 Conclusions

Colin_McGourty
Colin_McGourty
Staff
| 56 | Chess Event Coverage

The era of India's GM Gukesh Dommaraju as chess world champion has begun, after an incredibly hard-fought 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore suddenly ended when the Chinese reigning champion GM Ding Liren blundered in the final classical game. We take a look at some of the conclusions we can draw from an event that may prove to be a turning point in chess history.

The 2024 FIDE World Championship came to an end in Singapore on Friday with the closing ceremony, which you can rewatch below.

 Let's take a look at some conclusions.

  1. Gukesh Is The 18th World Chess Champion At 18
  2. Dreams Can Come True
  3. It Was A Great Match
  4. The End Was Anticlimactic—And Spectacular!
  5. Gukesh Keeps Dodging Tiebreaks
  6. Gukesh’s Mentality Was Almost Too Good
  7. Ding Was A Revelation After A Tough Year
  8. Ding’s Self-Belief Still Let Him Down
  9. Gukesh Had An Amazing Team, But Opening Battle Was A Tie
  10. Gukesh's Win Is Great For Chess
  11. Gukesh Is Going To Be Rich
  12. Carlsen And Other Tests Await
  13. Ding Happy To Chill But Keep On Playing (Not Only Bughouse)

1. Gukesh Is The 18th World Chess Champion At 18

When most of the details of the match in Singapore have been forgotten, the bare facts will remain: Gukesh is only the 18th player to have become the undisputed chess champion of the world. And he did it at the age of just 18.

He’s four years younger than the legendary GM Garry Kasparov was when he took the title from GM Anatoly Karpov in 1985, with Kasparov in turn a few months younger than another candidate for the greatest of all time, GM Magnus Carlsen, who won the title in 2013 from India’s first world champion, GM Viswanathan Anand.

As a seven-year-old, Gukesh watched Carlsen and Anand play when the match was held in his home city of Chennai and had a dream: "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 more than 10 years ago has been the single most important thing in my life so far."

When Magnus won, I thought I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India.

—Gukesh Dommaraju

2. Dreams Can Come True

“The only way to explain is just I’m living my dream!” said Gukesh after his triumph, though he revealed that for him the dream began to be fulfilled in the very first game, despite it ending in a loss:

The game did not go great, but as I said, in 2013 I was outside the glass box. I did not get a seat in the audience to watch the match, so at that time I just looked at Vishy sir and Magnus and I thought, it’ll be really cool to be there one day, and to actually be there and sit there and to see the Indian flag next to me. It was probably the best moment.

Gukesh’s dream became more specific, since after winning the Under 11 Indian Championship in 2017 he famously told IM Sagar Shah, “I want to become the youngest world chess champion.”

“I didn’t pay any attention to it at that moment,” admitted Shah in the Take Take Take recap of the final game of the 2024 World Championship, since as he explained, “When you interview any young kid, they say that they want to become the world champion.”

This kid, however, was the real deal.

Gukesh on a moment he'd lived for: "For me to actually be here and hold this trophy and experience this moment, in reality, it means more than anything else in my life." Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

3. It Was A Great Match

There were fears before the match in Singapore of a blowout, with chess fans struggling to watch as an out-of-shape world champion collapsed before our eyes. What actually happened, however, was nothing of the sort.

Ding came out fighting, won the first game, and after Gukesh hit back in game three, we got an incredibly tense “middlegame” of seven draws that were jam-packed with near misses for both sides. When Gukesh won game 11 to take the lead for the first time, it felt as though the pre-tournament favorite would now ease to victory, but Ding struck straight back, with Gukesh confessing, “He completely destroyed me that game!”

The action went right down to the wire.  

4. The End Was Anticlimactic—And Spectacular!

In the latter stages of game 14, everyone’s thoughts were turning to tiebreaks the next day, with Gukesh himself saying, “I thought we are going to play for five-six hours, it’s going to end in a draw, and let’s focus on the tiebreaks.”

Then suddenly Ding put his rook on the wrong square and, a few inevitable moves later, the match was over with the shocked players overwhelmed with joy or despair!

It was a sad way for a champion to lose his crown and deprived us of another day of intense chess, with Carlsen commenting in his recap, “It was extremely anticlimactic—of course, the moment of Gukesh sitting there at the board in tears, that was beautiful, but the chess part of it was really not.”

As Gukesh explained, however, chess fans can’t have everything. He felt that the reason he couldn’t control his emotions was precisely that things had happened so suddenly: "I was already preparing myself to go through that huge tiebreak fight, and suddenly it was all over and I’d achieved my dream. I’m not someone who shows a lot of emotions, but I think this one can be forgiven."

I’m not someone who shows a lot of emotions, but I think this one can be forgiven.

—Gukesh Dommaraju

Ding said in the post-game press conference that he had no regrets, but in an interview with FM Mike Klein a day later he admitted to just one: “What I want to do is be back to the moment when I played Rf2, to tell myself to calm down, to think for one more second, to figure out what’s wrong with this.”

5. Gukesh Keeps Dodging Tiebreaks

Ding, like many chess fans, felt an absence on Friday.

It wasn’t the first time Gukesh had narrowly escaped tiebreaks. If GM Fabiano Caruana had won a winning position against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final round of the Toronto Candidates, Caruana would have gone head-to-head with Gukesh for the right to play Ding. 

Caruana is currently ranked third in rapid chess, while Gukesh is 44th. In Singapore, meanwhile, it would be the rapid world number-two, Ding, that Gukesh would have had to face in speed chess.

Of course, it’s far from a given that Ding would be the favorite, since a lot still depends on nerves and opening preparation, while Gukesh’s team, which had clearly been thorough in every aspect, would have arranged training games and prepared him as best as they possibly could. Still, all the available data at this time suggests that Gukesh is weaker at faster chess time controls.

Gukesh could finally relax in Singapore on Friday instead of facing tiebreaks. Photo: Eng Chin An/FIDE.

Gukesh himself hinted at a fear of rapid and blitz when, while crediting God for events on the path to the world title, he added of the Candidates, “Last round, it could have gone to tiebreaks, but God helped me, and even here, it could have gone to tiebreaks—on and on, so many things that God has done, and it couldn’t have been by anyone else.”

6. Gukesh’s Mentality Was Almost Too Good

One huge asset on Gukesh’s side is his mental strength. As well as having a belief in God and a natural calm, he’d been working with one of sports' best-known mental coaches, Paddy Upton. The South African, who previously worked with the Indian cricket team, revealed he had met weekly with Gukesh for six months.

Gukesh valued that contribution and commented, “It’s really cool that Paddy helped Indian cricket in the 2011 World Cup, and this time he has helped chess 13 years later.” He said the coach “played a huge role in this match.”

The built-up resilience was visible in how Gukesh reacted to the loss in round one, with barely any emotion visible in that first press conference, though in the final press conference Gukesh revealed how it had felt. He commented:

No matter how much you prepare for it, you come here as an 18-year-old and you lose the first game the way I did—it’s humiliating, a bit, so it was quite tough to handle that. But after the game, there was a nice moment because I was walking back to the hotel in the lift and Vishy sir was also in the lift, and he told me, "I had 11 games, you have 13 games," and that's the only thing he said.

You come here as an 18-year-old and you lose the first game the way I did—it's humiliating.

—Gukesh Dommaraju

Anand was referring to how he’d lost game one of his match against GM Veselin Topalov in 2010 but stormed back to retain his title.

Gukesh's strength also comes from his parents. He said of his mum: "She says she would be very happy to hear people saying her son is a great chess player, but it would be even more joyful for her to hear that her son is an even greater person." Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Gukesh’s will to win at times seemed questionable, since twice he rejected a draw by repetition in positions where only his opponent could be better, while even in the last game he made the move 13…Bb6?! that Carlsen described as “ambition without ammunition.”

It was all part of a plan, with Gukesh and his team convinced it was the right choice, partly based on tiring out the opponent. He told Klein:

The kind of approach I’m most proud of is how I was pushing, exhausting every single resource till the very end in every single position, without taking completely crazy risks. I did take some risks, but my approach was to use every little chance, which eventually got me the title.

7. Ding Was A Revelation After A Tough Year

Little was expected of the Ding who had dropped to 23rd in the world and had gone over 300 days without a classical win. Instead, we saw the player who was recognizable as the colossus who had strode the chess world a few years earlier.

By the closing ceremony, Ding could be proud of what he'd done. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

When he took over in the first game, he suddenly played a fast sequence of powerful moves that rocked Gukesh, and we’d see such moments in many of the games—even if often it was out of necessity due to shaky handling of the clock. His win in game 12 is by far the smoothest win of the match, with his second GM Richard Rapport commenting in a recap of the match for the Chinese Chess Association: "We had two wins, which is already very difficult to achieve, and also those two wins were on an extremely high level, completely outplaying the opponent in both games."

“I think he played overall better chess, quality-wise, than the opponent,” said Rapport, and while you can argue that point, what was impressive was that Ding also showed fantastic fighting spirit. Gukesh’s praise was effusive:

In the games where he was almost going to give up, where the position was completely losing for him, he kept finding resources, he kept fighting, and then once I took the lead he played an amazing game to fight back.… Any normal human being would have just given up at that point, but then he came the next day and he played a great game. He completely destroyed me that game, and it was really inspiring to see that despite how the odds are against him, he kept fighting. He kept coming to the board and giving it his all. He’s a real inspiration for me! 

Any normal human being would have just given up at that point, but then he came the next day and he played a great game. 

—Gukesh Dommaraju

Gukesh said that one of the things Upton had worked with him on was “this uncertainty with my opponent’s form,” and the match showed why it was necessary.  

8. Ding’s Self-Belief Still Let Him Down

Nevertheless, what clearly prevented Ding from doing better in the match were his self-doubt, underestimation of his positions, and the struggle to force himself to press home his advantages when he was still level or leading in the match. Already in game two, he had shocked observers by simply taking a draw in a slightly better and completely risk-free endgame position which Carlsen said is what you dream of in a world championship match.

Many more examples would follow, with Ding’s readiness to force draws from better or even close-to-winning positions shocking observers.

Ding was better in all three games he lost, including the final one. There Ding was surprised in the opening but soon ended up in a much better position, with Gukesh's team later admitting to the challenger forgetting his preparation. If Ding had been trailing in the match, he would have pushed for a win and might have succeeded. Instead, he went for a forcing move to try and liquidate toward a draw. Then the “unconscionable” (GM Hikaru Nakamura) move 26.a4?! and he was instead fighting for a draw a pawn down.

In total, Ding failed to press advantages in around six of the 14 games, which is leaving too many points on the table to be confident of success. Asked about Gukesh pushing in positions where he was worse, Ding commented, “Maybe fortune favors the brave.” On this occasion, it did.  

9. Gukesh Had An Amazing Team, But Opening Battle Was A Tie

Gukesh, as a national hero in a nation of 1.4 billion people, seemed to have all but unlimited support from private and government sources, and that showed in the formidable team he assembled. 

The Polish connection is understandable, with Anand previously having worked with GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek in world championship matches before GM Grzegorz Gajewski took over as his main coach.

Gajewski, Wojtaszek, and GM Pentala Harikrishna, along with 17-year-old IM Jan Klimkowski, all worked with Gukesh for the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Toronto that qualified Gukesh for the match.

GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who played in the 2022 Candidates, and 20-year-old GM Vincent Keymer, a potential world champion himself, joined for the match, with Duda in particular there to play training games against Gukesh. With help from the legendary Anand, a five-time world champion, Gukesh had a remarkable team, but it’s worth noting that Ding’s team of Rapport and GM Ni Hua (and another unannounced player or two) held their own.

Gukesh used every opportunity to credit his team. Photo: Eng Chin An/FIDE.

In terms of who won the opening battle in each game, the match was evenly tied. Ding did better early on, while Gukesh was pressing hard in the middle of the match during the sequence of seven draws, while at the end both had chances. A couple of early surprises by Gukesh only landed him in bad positions, including in the final game.

Team Ding also managed, if not to revive the French Defense, then at least to get away with playing it at the very highest level. Carlsen commented: "Ding played the French, and apparently wasn’t even very well-prepared for the French, and still he actually scored +1 with the French Defense, which is pretty incredible!"

Wojtaszek, for one, is happy to have seen the end of it! 

10. Gukesh's Win Is Great For Chess

Becoming world champion is a goal for any very strong chess player, but as Carlsen noted, that doesn’t mean you want it quite as much as Gukesh obviously did.

Honestly, it’s heart-warming to see how much it means for Gukesh to win. I don’t think I ever had that same dream as him, so it didn’t really mean as much to me. I kind of wanted it to, but it really didn’t, but to see the way he talks about it, it was a really beautiful moment!

I don’t think I ever had that same dream as him, so it didn’t really mean as much to me. I kind of wanted it to, but it really didn’t.

—Magnus Carlsen on Gukesh becoming world champion

Gukesh wants to be the world champion, and he wants to play classical chess, whereas even before the final game, Ding had talked in the post-game press conference about planning to play more rapid and blitz (like Carlsen) in the coming year.

Gukesh Dommaraju finds himself where he's always wanted to be. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Needless to say, it’s good to have a champion who wants to play in the top events and prove himself, while having another Indian champion should only supercharge the already incredible growth of chess in India. If Ding had won, meanwhile, there’s no reason to think we would see any change in China, where the Chinese form of chess remains more popular.    

11. Gukesh Is Going To Be Rich

Before the match, the new system of $200,000 for winning a game with the rest of the $2.5 million prize fund split equally seemed as though it might mean that Ding, the underdog, would win a lesser share of the pot than in previous matches. Instead it was the opposite: Gukesh won $1.35 million and Ding took $1.15 million, while on the previous 60:40 split that would have been $1.5 and $1 million.

Such small differences are unlikely to matter for Gukesh, however, who now has the world at his feet. The tradition in India has been to reward sportsmen, with Gukesh previously even receiving a Mercedes from his school. Cash prizes follow from politicians, with the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin already announcing a prize of around $600,000. 

That’s just the beginning—all kinds of commercial opportunities will open up for Gukesh and his team. He talked in the press conference about his family needing the support of friends to fund his chess career early on, but money is unlikely to be a concern for the rest of his life.    

12. Carlsen And Other Tests Await

For Gukesh, however, such matters are secondary, and he’s completely focused on chess goals. Like Ding before him, he’s earned the biggest title in chess without topping the rating list, and the dream goes on:

Obviously becoming the world champion doesn’t mean I’m the best player in the world. Obviously there’s Magnus. So it’s also a motivating factor that there is someone at a very, very high level, something that will keep me doing the right things, working hard, and trying to reach the level of greatness that Magnus has achieved.

Obviously becoming the world champion doesn't mean I'm the best player in the world.

—Gukesh Dommaraju

Gukesh fever has begun! Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Carlsen feels that Gukesh has time and room to improve:

I think it’s a really good thing for him that there’re two years now until he has to defend his title because I think if he was playing somebody like Fabi or Hikaru in this match and played the same way, he would probably have had a very difficult time.

He wouldn’t be surprised if Gukesh is the player to knock him off the top spot:

Winning this championship, I’m sure it’s extremely motivating, so there is a very good chance that he’s going to go on a great run of results now, maybe even establish himself as the number-two player in the world, and who knows, maybe in the not too distant future, number-one.

But Carlsen shot back when IM Levy Rozman suggested Gukesh might pass him if he continues to perform as he did in the match: “I didn’t lose Elo during this tournament, though!”

Let’s hope we get a great rivalry ahead!  

13. Ding Happy To Chill But Keep On Playing (Not Only Bughouse)

Although Ding came incredibly close to retaining his title, it’s hard not to feel the loss may be some relief. His reign has been short, but still longer than that of legendary GMs Vasily Smyslov and Mikhail Tal, who lost rematches to GM Mikhail Botvinnik, but still hold honored places in chess history.

Ding Liren received the runner-up medal from GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The burden of the crown on Ding was obvious, and he told Klein after the match was over, “There’s not so many obligations, responsibilities—if I play not so well, there won’t be so many people saying I’m not a worthy world champion.”

You could see him already calm in the post-match press conference, while the same evening he accepted an invitation to play bughouse with a friend, joking, “But still my tactical vision was quite bad—I missed many simple tactics!”

The next day he was full of smiles while meeting young fans.

Ding found many new supporters during the match and is a fan of the memes about his chilling. He commented, “I really liked the cartoon picture of this Ding chilling, a very cute guy with a handsome appearance!”

Will Ding try to battle his way back to the title, which first means reaching the 2026 Candidates Tournament? He noted that, for the first time, there’s no automatic spot for the loser of the match, and “I have to do it from zero.”

One route is via the FIDE Circuit. In a change from the published regulations for 2024, the points available for 2025 for finishing runner-up in the match have been doubled, so that instead of 20.32 points, Ding will get 40.64—a higher single result than anyone else will be able to achieve in 2025.

Still, that’s just one of seven results, and Ding isn’t currently planning to play as many classical events as he’d need to be eligible. He told Klein: "Maybe I will play in the World Cup or some qualification tournament, but I think I won’t try from the [FIDE Circuit]—it requires too many tournaments."

In any case, let’s hope we see a lot of Ding—and Gukesh—in 2025, as a new era in chess begins!

Where now for Gukesh? Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore has decided the next world champion. 18-year-old Indian Challenger Gukesh Dommaraju took on Chinese Defending Champion Ding Liren in a 14-game match, with the first to 7.5 points winning. The players had two hours for 40 moves, then 30 minutes to the end of the game, with 30 seconds added each move from move 41 onwards. The prize fund was $2,500,000, with $200,000 for a win and the remaining money split equally. If tied 7-7, a playoff would have taken place, starting with four games of 15+10 rapid chess.

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Colin_McGourty
Colin McGourty

Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.

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