India, Jan. 9 -- Following his triumph in the World Chess Championship held in Singapore last year, D Gukesh has emerged as arguably the most celebrated Grandmaster in India. The 18-year-old achieved a remarkable victory over the reigning champion, Ding Liren, culminating in a surprising win. The championship progressed to the critical Game 14, where it appeared that Liren was executing his strategy effectively, aiming to force a tie-breaker.

However, a significant error on the 55th move by the Chinese Grandmaster led to his resignation, granting Gukesh the victory. This outcome sent shockwaves through the chess community, especially considering that just a year prior, Gukesh was not anticipated to contend for the title against Liren. His unexpected success in the Candidates Tournament had qualified him for this prestigious match.

Gukesh received accolades from both current and former chess players, although some responses were less favourable. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who also served as Gukesh's coach, criticized the match, describing Liren's mistake as a juvenile blunder that dramatically altered the course of the game.

In a recent event, Indian chess icon Viswanathan Anand provided a compelling rebuttal to Carlsen and Kramnik's critiques of Gukesh's championship win. Anand emphasized, "Gukesh maintained his strategy of aggression. While unexpected events occurred during the match, he was present the following day, continuing to press forward. The rook blunder did not occur in isolation."

In response to Carlsen's comments after his victory in Singapore, Gukesh acknowledged that the quality of the games may not have been consistently high, but he regarded the championship match as a positive experience overall. He also extended a challenge to Carlsen for the title, although the Norwegian has since declined.

Gukesh opted out of the year-end World Rapid and Blitz Championship but is poised to return to competitive play this year, facing off against notable players such as Anand and Magnus Carlsen. Currently, he holds the position of World No. 5 in the latest FIDE rankings and is recognized as India's No. 2 player.

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