Ashraf AboArafe
An Indian teenage chess prodigy Gokesh Domaraju has become the youngest player to win the Men’s Candidates Championship held in Toronto on April 21, 2024. In doing so, the 17-year-old professional has created an opportunity for himself to dethrone the current world champion Ding Liren of China.
Ding Larin was crowned champion of the World Chess Championship (WCC) in 2023 when five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen decided not to defend his title at that time.
Previously, the youngest ever winner of the Candidates Tournament was Russian legend Garry Kasparov when he won the title in 1984 at the age of 20. Kasparov praised Gokisch’s success, writing on the social media platform X, “The Indian earthquake in Toronto is the culmination of the movement of tectonic plates in the world of chess.”
Gokish will face Deng Larin in the 2024 World Chess Championship, which is expected to be held later this year. If he wins, Jokis will once again break Kasparov’s record and become the youngest world champion ever.
