D Gukesh wins FIDE Candidate Tournament to challenge Ding Liren

After playing out a draw with Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, 17-year-old D Gukesh of India became the youngest male chess player to win the FIDE Candidate Tournament. In the women’s section, Tan Zhongyi of China won the  2024 FIDE Candidate Tournament. 

D Gukesh will face the current FIDE World Champion, Ding Liren of China, later this year, and  Tan Zhongyi will face the current female World Chess Champion, Ju Wenjun, to decide the 2024 FIDE World Chess Champion.

Gukesh finished the tournament with five wins, eight draws, and a loss, totalling nine points, which is the winning tally for the tournament.

D Gukesh's achievement at the Candidate Tournament 

• D Gukesh became the second Indian after Vishwanathan Anand to win the FIDE Candidate Tournament. Vishwanathan Anand won the Candidate tournament in 2014 but lost the 2014 FIDE World Chess Championship match against Magnus Carlsen. 
• D. Gukesh is the third youngest player to play in the Candidate tournament after Bobby Fischer of the US and Magnus Carlsen of Norway.  
• D. Gukesh became the youngest player to win the Candidate tournament at the age of 17. 
• Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov of Russia won it at the age of 21 and Magnus Carlsen at the age of 22.

2024 FIDE Candidate Tournament

• The 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament was organised by the world chess governing body FIDE in Toronto, Canada, from 3 to 22 April 2024. 
• 16 players-8 male and 8 female chess players participated in the tournament to decide the challenger for the FIDE Chess Championship to be held this year. 
• The world's number one male chess player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, didn't participate in the Candidate tournament.
• Five Indian-three male and two female chess players participated in the tournament. Vidit Gujrathi, 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa and 17-year-old Gukesh were the Indian male players.
• In the women's section, Vaishali and Koneru Humpy represented India.
• It was the first Candidate tournament for Vaishali, Praggnanandhaa and D.Gukesh.
• In the Candidate tournament, all the players play against each other twice, and the player with the maximum points is declared the winner.
• In the men’s section, D Gukesh, with 9 points, emerged as the winner, while in the Women’s section, Tan Zhongyi won with 9 points. 

Final Ranking at the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament (open)

Following is the final ranking of the male and female chess players at the end of the 2024 FIDE Candidate Tournament . The top-ranked male and female players qualified for the World Chess Championships this year. 

About D. Gukesh 

• Dommaraju Gukesh was born on May 29, 2006, in Chennai to a Telugu-speaking family. His father is a Doctor, and his mother is a microbiologist.
• At the age of twelve years, seven months, and seventeen days, he became India’s youngest chess grandmaster. 
• Earlier this July, Gukesh achieved another remarkable milestone when he became the youngest chess player to cross the 2750 live rating mark, surpassing a record previously held by the five-time World Champion, Magnus Carlsen.
• He broke the 36-year-old record of five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand as the country’s top-ranked player.

FIDE  (Fédération Internationale des Échecs)

The Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) or International Chess Federation is the world governing body of male and female chess.

FIDE was set up in Paris, France, on 20 July 1924.

Members: 201 National Chess Federation are its members.

President of  FIDE:  Arkady Dvorkovich, 

Headquarters of FIDE: Lausanne, Switzerland