India’s representative, Gukesh Dommaraju, has become the eighteenth world chess champion. The youngest world champion in the history of the royal game competed in a tournament in Warsaw in May. “I really like it here and would love to come back,” he said after the Superbet Rapid & Blitz 2024 competition.

The World Championship match took place in Singapore, and for the first time in history, two Asian chess players competed for the title without a European representative. The 18-year-old Indian defeated the defending champion, China’s Ding Liren, in the 14th round, winning 7.5:6.5. Thus, he became the youngest world chess champion in history.

At the press conference after the final round, the new world champion was visibly moved. “When Magnus Carlsen won the world title in 2013, I thought I wanted to be the chess player who would bring this title back to India. I am very happy,” he said.

It is worth noting that Gukesh Dommaraju’s coach is Polish grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski, who previously worked with former world champion Viswanathan Anand. During the press conference in Singapore, the new champion also thanked his other coaches and sparring partners, including Polish chess players Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Radosław Wojtaszek, and Jan Klimkowski.

Gukesh is another outstanding chess player from Chennai, formerly known as Madras, the same city where Anand, the most famous Indian chess player to date, grew up. This city is probably the most chess-centric in the world, with over thirty grandmasters hailing from there. The new world champion’s father is a surgeon, and his mother is a virologist. Years ago, they sold a large part of their property to support their son’s chess career. Gukesh first sat at the chessboard at the age of seven. It took him eleven years to reach the top, but he also had many successes along the way – in 2018, he became the world champion under 12, and in 2020 under 14. He has been a grandmaster since 2019, becoming the second youngest grandmaster in chess history at that time.

Will Gukesh meet Polish fans in Warsaw? It cannot be ruled out, as he was enchanted by Poland and the organization of the tournament after the last event, as emphasized by his coach. “The Superbet Rapid & Blitz tournament is an excellent promotion of chess in Poland. It’s great that such excellent players can play here. I’m glad we were here, especially since I noticed that Gukesh is handling the growing interest in him and everything happening around him better and better,” said Gajewski. “Of course, he has talent, but everyone at this level does. He is very ambitious, hardworking, and focused on his goal. When you are seventeen or eighteen, it is not easy at all. He just wants to be the best,” added the coach.

It is already known that the world’s top chess players will come to Warsaw in 2025 as well. Next year’s edition of the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Warsaw 2025 is scheduled for April 26-30, and the top grandmasters will once again compete at the Polin Center. The full lineup will be announced in the coming months. In recent editions, almost all of the world’s top chess players have participated, including the recent champion Magnus Carlsen.