For the first time in a decade, an Indian won the chess Candidates Tournament, and it turned out to be a historic occasion. 10 years after Viswanathan Anand’s triumph, Dommaraju Gukesh won the Candidates Tournament to become the youngest-ever winner of this competition, at only 17 years of age.
Moreover, Gukesh also became only the second Indian to become a challenger at the World Chess Championship after Viswanathan Anand. Speaking about the honour of representing India, he said:
It is always an honour, representing my country. To achieve something big for myself and my country is very special to me. It was really nice to see all the people here supporting me and cheering for chess. I usually don’t try to interact with the outside world a lot during the tournament, but surely, whenever they cheered during and after the games, it was really nice to see that. Their support means a lot to me.D Gukesh
Explaining his feelings after winning the competition, Gukesh stated:
Right now, I am so relieved and so happy. I was following this crazy game (Fabiano Caruana vs Ian Nepomniachtchi), and I was completely emotional, but now, after the game finished, I'm feeling quite good.D Gukesh
What remained a consistent feature in Gukesh’s gameplay throughout the competition was his composure. Despite being in precarious positions on multiple occasions, the teenager always seemed to find a solution. After his triumph, he credited his mindset for the win.
From start to end, I was in good spirits, fully motivated, and I really wanted to win the event. All these things come together. It was helpful that I was sharp chess-wise and I managed to play some good chess but I would say mainly my mental attitude in this tournament was very very good.D Gukesh
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