Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025 - D Gukesh: World Champion

Gukesh, who emerged out of India's vibrant chess ecosystem studded with 85 Grandmasters, at 18 has achieved what many aspire to once in their lifetime. And this is just the beginning

By Kathakali Chanda Forbes India Staff

Published: Feb 27, 2025 04:21:24 PM IST

Updated: Feb 27, 2025 04:27:53 PM IST

Full Bio

D Gukesh, Chess Player
Image: Simon Lim / Afp; Photoimaging By: Kapil Kashyap D Gukesh, Chess Player Image: Simon Lim / Afp; Photoimaging By: Kapil Kashyap

In 2013, D Gukesh had watched Magnus Carlsen beat Viswanathan Anand, India’s first Grandmaster, to win the World Championship held in his hometown of Chennai. Eleven years later, Gukesh scripted a fairytale ending to the story as he brought home the World Championship crown back to India as its youngest winner.

It took till the 55th move of the final game of the 14-match bout between defending champion Ding Liren and Gukesh, and a rookie error by the Chinese Grandmaster, for the teenager to change the course of history. “I’ve been dreaming about this and living this moment since I was six or seven. [Now] I’m living my dream,” the 18-year-old said in his post-match press conference.

Gukesh, who emerged out of India’s vibrant chess ecosystem studded with 85 Grandmasters, was a story waiting to happen. Born to doctors—father an ENT and mother a microbiologist—he took to chess at the age of seven. Once Gukesh became proficient, his father gave up his job to travel with him to tournaments and he was pulled out of formal schooling to focus on the sport. It’s a call that his parents questioned occasionally, but their conviction was vindicated when Gukesh turned 12 and became the country’s youngest Grandmaster. He hasn’t looked back since. Earlier in the year, he won an individual and a team gold in the Chess Olympiad—his performance rating of 3056 was the highest in the tournament.

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His composure and his ability to remain unfazed are exceptional, and he brings the same attitude and strategy to every game, says Anand, himself a five-time World Champion and the torchbearer of India’s chess revolution. “For instance, his win in Game 11 [of the World Championship] was met by quite a stinging defeat in Game 12, but he took it in his stride and kept working,” says Anand, who mentors Gukesh in the WestBridge Anand Chess Academy. “There’s a kind of consistency that you see with him and that makes him very strong because, if you’re his opponent, you feel it’s hard to break him,” he adds.

Despite the World Championship being his first, Gukesh wasn’t looking to play safe, but pushed for a confrontation in every game—if he applied pressure consistently, he believed, “eventually that’ll produce an error by the opponent”, says Anand. This attitude, backed by thorough preparation is what brought him success at the prestigious event. “He prepared diverse ideas in many different openings. Some didn’t work, like Game 1, but many worked, like Games 3, 7, 13,” observes Anand.

At 18, Gukesh has achieved what many aspire to once in their lifetime. And this is just the beginning.

D Gukesh (18)

Chess player

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