Bio of Gukesh Dommaraju (by Gukesh Junior)
The player's full name is Gukesh Dommaraju and they confirmed to Chess.com that they prefer to be called by their first name, Gukesh.

Indian GM Gukesh Dommaraju is the current world chess champion, defeating GM Ding Liren in the FIDE World Championship on December 12, 2024. He is the youngest undisputed world champion in chess history, at 18 years and six months old, shattering the previous record of 22 years and seven months which was set by GM Garry Kasparov in 1985. Gukesh became the challenger to the world championship in April 2024 by winning the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament with a score of 9/14, which also made him the youngest-ever Candidates Tournament winner.

A chess prodigy, Gukesh earned the GM title at 12 years, 7 months and 17 days of age—narrowly missing GM Sergey Karjakin’s record at the time by 17 days. In July 2022, he achieved a live rating of 2700, the fourth-youngest player to ever do so. In September 2023, he was ranked eighth in the world and first in India—ending GM Viswanathan Anand's 37-year reign as India's top-rated player.

> Early Chess Career (2013-18)
> Second-youngest Grandmaster In History (2019)
> Additional Tournament Success (2019-22)
> Becoming World Champion (2023-24)
> As World Champion
Early Chess Career (2013-18)
Gukesh learned to play chess when he was seven years old. It’s rather late compared to other prodigies. For example, two of the most famous chess sensations in history, GMs Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen, both learned how when they were five years old. Some learn even earlier.

Nevertheless, Gukesh, who hails from Chennai, India—the same city as GM Viswanathan Anand—can partly thank his environment for thriving so early. He was introduced to chess by his school, which is part of the Velammal group of schools across Chennai responsible for talents like GMs Murali Karthikeyan, Aravindh Chithambaram and, most famously, Praggnanandhaa R. Gukesh’s first coach at the school, Mr. Bhaskar, helped the youngster become a FIDE-rated player within six months of learning the game.

Two years later, while being trained by Mr. Vijayanand, Gukesh found success at the international level. At the 2015 Asian School Chess Championships, he won the under-9 section and also earned the candidate master (CM) title. Gukesh topped his first major win with plenty of success in 2018. At the Asian Youth Chess Championships, he won five gold medals: under-12 individual classical, under-12 individual rapid and blitz, and under-12 team rapid and blitz. Even more important in the same year, Gukesh captured the under-12 title at the World Youth Championships with 10/11 points.

Around this time, Gukesh was busy fulfilling IM norms as an 11-year-old. The first came at the First Friday tournament in Puchong, Malaysia, in October 2017, which took place weeks after he had started training with noted Indian GM Vishnu Prasanna (a longtime second of Indian GM Baskaran Adhiban). Gukesh’s second IM norm was at the Moscow Open in 2018. Finally, Gukesh gained his third and final IM norm on March 10, 2018, by scoring 7/9 at the Cappelle la Grande Open. He became an international master at 11 years, nine months and nine days old.

Almost immediately, Gukesh started working on his quest to become the youngest grandmaster in history. In April 2018, after winning the Asian under-12 youth title, he earned his first GM norm at the Bangkok Open. Good luck was on the prodigy’s side, as Gukesh beat GM Nigel Short in the tournament simply because Short forgot to press his clock in a superior position. His second GM norm came at the Orbis 2 GM event when Gukesh scored 7.5/9 points and gained 21 rating points. Although he had a chance to get his final GM norm at the Sunway Sitges Chess Festival in December 2018—which would have made him the youngest grandmaster in history—he drew his must-win, ninth-round game, missing the norm by half a point.

“I was disappointed for two days,” Gukesh told ESPN. “Then I moved on.” His coach helped him gain perspective on the failed record-setting attempt. “I tried to not get him too attached to chasing the GM title,” Prasanna said. “I told him it won't be the greatest-ever achievement there is, and that there are many around us who have achieved far more challenging goals.”

Second-youngest Grandmaster In History (2019)
On January 15, 2019, Gukesh became the second-youngest chess grandmaster in history by scoring his third GM norm at the 17th Delhi International Grandmaster Open. He was 12 years, 7 months and 17 days old at the time, which means he missed Karjakin’s record by just 17 days.

The feat required somewhat of a world tour. From Gukesh’s first IM norm until his third GM norm, he played in 30 tournaments over a period of 16 months. That amazing pace amounted to 276 games in 13 countries.

“Today is a great day, and I am very happy and proud of Gukesh,” Prasanna told Chess.com. “His strategic supremacy and his unique strategic understanding make him stand out. His ability to grasp and willingness to learn will make sure he goes a long way.”

Gukesh_Junior