Watch: After historic World Chess Championship win, Gukesh’s board resets gesture captures hearts

Gukesh’s resilience and grit on the international stage have been celebrated and after becoming the youngest ever World Chess Championship, the teenager was seen arranging the chess board as a matter of his tradition. Gukesh had some happy tears as he arranged the board as he lived his childhood dream.

“I was dreaming this moment for the last 10 years. I am happy that I realised the dream (and made it) into reality,” the soft-spoken Chennai lad told reporters after the historic triumph. “I got a bit emotional because I was not expecting to win. But then I got a chance to press on,” he added.

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Gukesh secured the requisite 7.5 points as against 6.5 of his Chinese rival after winning the 14th and last classical time control game of the match that seemed headed for a draw for most part. As winner, he will walk away with a whopping USD 1.3 million (approx Rs 11.03 crore) from the 2.5 million prize purse.

The triumph was expectedly hailed across India with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing it as “historic and exemplary”. “This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination,” Modi posted on X. The reticent teenager grinned widely and raised his arms in celebration after the victory, a stark contrast from the poker face he usually sports while playing.

Even on Thursday, when the analysts had proclaimed that the match, in all likelihood, would go into a tie-breaker, Gukesh’s face hardly gave anything away as he gained the upper hand. It was a momentary lapse of concentration by Liren in what seemed a drawn endgame and as it happened, the entire chess world was left in a state of shock. The players were just left with a rook and a bishop and Gukesh had two pawns against one trying to make a foray without much success.

However, the ability to keep pushing for more gave Gukesh a distinct advantage over the Chinese and the latter simply collapsed to give the title to Gukesh. Before Gukesh’s feat on Thursday, the legendary Garry Kasparov of Russia was the youngest world champion when he won the title at the age of 22, dethroning Anatoly Karpov in 1985.

Gukesh had entered the match as the youngest-ever challenger to the world crown after winning the Candidates tournament earlier this year. “Every chess player wants to live this dream. I am living my dream,” said Gukesh. Gukesh, who won the 14th game against Liren after 58 moves in four hours, is the 18th world chess champion overall.