Grandmaster left red-faced: Brutal blunder as new chess king ...

Indian grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju is the new world chess champion after a stunning blunder by his opponent in the last game of the 14-game series.

Playing in Singapore, Gukesh dethroned world champion Ding Liren, a Chinese grandmaster who has been struggling with his form this year.

Playing with black, the game was steered into a variation of the King’s Indian Attack: French, Reversed Grünfeld Variation.

India's grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju arrives for a press conference after winning against China's chess grandmaster Ding Liren in game 14 of the 2024 FIDE World Championship in Singapore. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

But after a promising start, Ding found himself down a pawn in an endgame, although computers evaluated the position as extremely drawish.

Gukesh piled on the pressure and Ding made a horrible blunder on move 55 with Rf2.

Gukesh immediately noticed the mistake and took a deep sip of water as he double-checked the winning variation.

Ding also noticed his error, and his face turned bright red.

Ding made a horrible blunder with the move 55 Rf2. Picture: Chess.comSource: Supplied

The win marks an incredible rise to the top for Gukesh and at just 18-year-old, he now stands astride the chess world.

Gukesh has had a golden year, and played a key role in India’s win at the 45th International Chess Federation Chess Olympiad in Budapest.

Ding, meanwhile, has struggled with form and his mental health. He did, however, play a strong match and only faltered at the end.

China's chess grandmaster Ding Liren reacts after losing against India's grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju in game 14. Picture: Simon Lim / AFPSource: AFP

Teen bursts into tears

For Gukesh, it was a dream come true. Six years earlier he had declared: “I want to become the youngest world chess champion.”

Gukesh became India’s youngest grandmaster aged 12 years, seven months and 17 days, and among the youngest in the history of the game.

Even Magnus Carlsen, the most recognisable current player in chess and a five-time world champion, was older.

Gukesh burst into tears and hugged his father after nearly three weeks and 14 games of intense battle against Ding, 32.

It was a rare loss of composure from the young man, who in public usually appears shy and reserved.

He was absent from the Bermuda party while starring for India at this year’s Chess Olympiad in Budapest — the event is a decades-old tradition where contestants party at a nightclub in the host city.

But after India finished with two gold medals, Gukesh surprised fans accustomed to his serious persona by posting a video of himself dancing exuberantly to a popular Tamil song clad in traditional clothing.

Though he spends much of his time practising the game, Gukesh recently confessed to a love of the hit television sitcom “Friends”.

When competing he usually wears a tilak — a smattering of white ash on his forehead in deference to his Hindu faith — to go with his suit.

India's grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju competes against China's chess grandmaster Ding Liren. Picture: AFPSource: AFP

‘Proud moment for chess’

In 2022, Gukesh beat US number one Fabiano Caruana at the Chess Olympiad and later that year triumphed over Carlsen.

He reached the world championship by becoming the youngest winner of the prestigious Candidates Tournament in April.

Indian chess icon and five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand has played a mentor’s role in Gukesh’s journey and hailed the teenager as his successor.

“It’s a proud moment for chess, a proud moment for India... and for me, a very personal moment of pride,” Anand said of Thursday’s win.

Born to a doctor father and microbiologist mother, Gukesh started playing chess aged seven.

His father Rajnikanth took him to watch Anand play Carlsen in a world championship match in his hometown Chennai in November 2013.

The world championship in Singapore was compared by some in India to the classic showdown between the American Bobby Fischer and Soviet great Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War in 1972.

Ties between nuclear-armed neighbours China and India are frequently tense. But Gukesh was magnanimous in victory on Thursday, saying Ding “fought like a true champion” despite being “obviously not at his best physically”.

Ding had told AFP before the tournament started last month that he was “having mental problems mainly during the period last year” and had to take a break from chess on his doctor’s advice and travel around China to relax.

Gukesh had won in the Candidates Tournament held in Toronto, Canada, in April this year, earning him the right to challenge Ding.

- with Agence France-Presse