CHENNAI: Some of chess' greatest names have called the coming age 'the era of Indian chess'. The Polgars, Judit and Susan. Former world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. Former Candidate winner, Boris Gelfand, and the only two-time winner of the World Cup, Levon Aronian... they have all heaped praise on the next generation of Indian kids.
They were all proved right in the early hours of Monday as D Gukesh, all of 17, completed a logic-defying, history-being-rewritten three weeks in Toronto as he became the youngest ever winner of the Candidates tournament, an elite eight player field which identifies the next challenger of the World Championships (Gukesh will face Ding Liren later in the year for a shot at immortality).
In the 14th and final round inside the city's Great Hall, Gukesh, sole leader by 0.5 points, drew against Hikaru Nakamura after 71 moves. Nakamura, one of the pre-Candidates favourites, needed a win to stay in contention. With white, he gave it his all but never got change on a day when Gukesh stayed rock solid till the very end.
While that draw put Gukesh on the brink of victory, there was another match going on on the table next to theirs. It featured Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi, two players who had been joint second coming into the final round. Both players needed a win while hoping the Indian didn't win.
They got the first wish but the win just wouldn't come for either of them. Caruana had some chances but didn't take it. Both of them kept at it gamely but knew the game was up -- they agreed to draw after a marathon 109 moves and six hours of match play.
Carlsen impressed by Gukesh
Coming into the final day, Gukesh was the one who had destiny in his own hands. Even though he was playing with black, he knew he controlled the fates of four players (himself and the chasing pack).
So he came up with a cool idea of 10...cxd4 and 11..b4. While commenting on the moves on chess24's YouTube stream, Carlsen 'hated the moves'. The eval bar moved ever so slightly in Nakamura's direction but the Norwegian course corrected a few moves later when his idea had become apparent.
“I love what Gukesh has done,” he said. “I didn’t even think of b4..it’s a nice idea, very concrete. I don’t think I’ve seen it before.” Once the middle game began, the Chennai boy used that as a platform to remain rock solid throughout the game. Nakamura kept pushing for the win but the Indian never yielded. They played till bare kings before finally agreeing to share the spoils of war.
Speaking of Carlsen, he was pessimistic about Gukesh's chances before the beginning of the Candidates. It wasn't controversial or anything; it was a safe bet to make considering the field, the odds and the history (nobody this young had won the Candidates).
Speaking to chess.com in the first week of April, he had said: "I think he will certainly win at least a couple of good games, but have some fairly bad losses as well. I don't think he will do poorly, but I don't think he will do too well."
After being impressed with Gukesh's three weeks, Carlsen said he was surprised. “I think like a lot of people I’ve been surprised by how well Gukesh has done," Carlsen continued on the stream while commenting on the match. "Maybe I shouldn’t have been... Gukesh had asked me in Germany (in February this year) what he should do in the Candidates. I told him I didn’t have any good advice. ..I only told him that he shouldn’t go crazy, and just look for chances because other players will go crazy.”
The other players tried. Gukesh triumphed.
Candidates (final standings)
D Gukesh 9
Hikaru Nakamura 8.5
Ian Nepomniachtchi 8.5
Fabiano Caruana 8
R Praggnanandhaa 7
Vidit Gujrathi 6
Alireza Firouzja 5
Nijat Abasov 3.5
Gukesh's path to victory
Rd 1 -- drew Vidit, Rd 2 -- bt Praggnanandhaa, Rd 3 -- drew Nepomniachtchi, Rd 4 -- drew Caruana, Rd 5 -- bt Abasov, Rd 6 -- drew Nakamura, Rd 7 lost to Firouzja, Rd 8 -- bt Vidit, Rd 9 -- drew Praggnanandhaa, Rd 10 -- drew Nepomniachtchi, Rd 11 -- drew Caruana, Rd 12 -- bt Abasov, Rd 13 -- bt Firouzja, Rd 14 -- drew Nakamura
