17-year-old Dommaraju Gukesh won the Candidates tournament in Toronto, Canada, officially becoming the challenger to the world chess champion's throne currently seated by China's Ding Liren. The Indian player is the youngest in the history of the game to reach this prestigious milestone. The match, the date and location of which remain to be determined, is scheduled for the end of 2024, when Gukesh, born at the end of May, will be 18 years old.
The victory of the native of Chennai came at the end of a long marathon, three weeks of matches and 14 matches, but it was resolved by a photo finish, during the last round, with four chess players in the list for final success. It is also the first triumph of a chess player of the new generation, represented by athletes born in the new millennium, against the old guard, born at the end of the last century, who arrived in Canada conscious of playing one of the last chances to conquer the world crown. Gukesh finished the tournament with 9 points, behind Americans Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi by half a length. The other two Indians, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit, the Franco-Iranian Alireza Firoujza and the Azerbaijani Nijat Abasov are further away.