D Gukesh took the crown at the World Chess Championship in Singapore on January 6, outplaying the reigning champion Ding Liren. The intense showdown went to a nail-biting 14th game, where both Grandmasters started off evenly matched. It seemed like Liren was steering the game towards a tiebreaker, but everything changed with a huge mistake on the 55th move, leading Liren to resign and hand the victory to Gukesh.

After making history as the youngest world chess champion, Gukesh opted out of the Rapid and Blitz Championships at the end of the year. Looking ahead to 2025, he has a busy lineup, including matches against Indian chess icon Viswanathan Anand and the current World No. 1, Magnus Carlsen.

At an event hosted by WestBridge Capital, Gukesh shared, "Yeah, 2025 is going to be really challenging. There are a lot of exciting tournaments on the horizon. The world championship is behind me now, and I’m really pleased with everything that’s come my way."

I've been thinking about setting new goals, entering new tournaments, and finding fresh ways to prepare. My aim remains the same: to give it my all, keep pushing myself, and win as many tournaments as I can.

"I'm excited for a year filled with fun, learning, growth, and hopefully some great results," he mentioned.

Gukesh is set to compete against Carlsen and Anand during the Germany leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025, happening from February 7-14. He’ll also face Carlsen at Norway Chess 2025. Gukesh will kick off his 2025 season at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in the Netherlands, where he’ll go up against players like Anish Giri, Erigaisi, Fabiano Caruana, and R Praggnanandhaa. Last year, Gukesh finished second, with China’s Wei Yi taking the top spot.

For Gukesh, this is also about proving Carlsen wrong after the Norwegian dismissed his World Championship win. In response, Gukesh publicly challenged Carlsen.

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