D Gukesh scripted history on Thursday, as he became the youngest-ever world chess champion, at the age of 18. He defeated defending champion Ding Liren in the decisive Game 14 at the World Chess Championship in Singapore. It was a see-saw battle through the game and it was going according to Liren’s plan as he tried to force a tie-breaker. But a massive blunder by him in the 55th move, saw him resign and concede to Gukesh in a 6.5-7.5 victory.

Gukesh is the second Grandmaster from India to ever claim the title. Viswanathan Anand was the FIDE World Champion from 2000-2002, and then once again reigned as the title holder from 2007 to 2013. In 2013, Magnus Carlsen defeated Anand to clinch the title and began an era of dominance. Carlsen won the 2013 Candidates tournament to qualify for the face-off and then beat Anand with ease in the World Chess Championship 2013.

D Gukesh recalls Viswanathan Anand’s 2013 World C’ship loss to Magnus Carlsen

Gukesh, who was seven-years-old at that time, recalled Carlsen’s win vs Anand and revealed that from then on he wanted to bring back the title to India. Speaking after his win vs Liren, Gukesh said, “When Magnus won I thought, I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India. This dream that I had for more than 10 years ago has been the single most important thing in my life so far.”

“Doing this for myself, my country. There is probably nothing better than this,” he added.

Gukesh became famous among chess fans at a very young age. He is the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, and was the third-youngest to have overtaken 2700 at the age of 16. He also got the title of grandmaster at the age of 12 and remains as the third-youngest grandmaster in history. He won the Candidates in April to qualify for a showdown with Liren.