Gukesh crowned world champion, pockets Rs 11.45 crore

Indian Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju was crowned the 18th world chess champion in Singapore today, a day after he won the title by defeating China’s Ding Liren in the final game of their 14-round match.

Besides the World Championship trophy, Gukesh won a cash award of Rs 11.45 crore. Ding lost his crown but his takeaway of about Rs 9.75 crore would provide him some solace.

The total prize money for the championship was $2.5 million, roughly Rs 20.75 crore. Out of this, to encourage aggressive play, FIDE, the world chess body, awarded about Rs 1.69 crore for each win. Gukesh won three games and Ding scored two victories. The rest of the prize money was split equally between the two.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich presented the trophy to Gukesh amidst loud cheers from the audience.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Government announced a cash award of Rs 5 crore for the world champion, who has Telugu ancestry but was born in Chennai.

The one cynical reaction to Gukesh’s win came from the president of the Russian Chess Federation, who alleged that Ding deliberately lost the final game.

Gukesh himself was all grace and humility after he was crowned the champion. “I mean this moment, it feels like I have lived it a million times. Every morning when I woke up, this moment was the reason I woke up. To hold this trophy and this reality means more than anything else in my life,” he said.

He showered praise on Ding, calling him a "true champion" and thanking him for putting up an “amazing fight”. Gukesh acknowledged the support of his parents, his team, and the fans, who have been with him throughout his journey.

"This journey has been nothing short of a dream. There have been many ups and downs, many challenges, but I wouldn’t change a single thing that has happened and it has been beautiful because of the kind of people I have had with me,” said the 18-year-old.

However, this grace was not matched by former champions Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik, and Andrei Filatov, the president of the Chess Federation of Russia. Filatov accused Ding of deliberately losing the final game. He described Ding's performance in the decisive moments as "extremely suspicious" and called for an investigation by FIDE.

He did not substantiate his claim with any evidence, while Ding or the Chinese Chess Federation did not comment on the allegation.

Kramnik criticised Ding for his blunder late in the game, calling it "childish" and describing the game as a "disappointment". He went so far as to say that it was the "end of chess as we know it."

Carlsen, whom Gukesh holds in high esteem, also ruffled some feathers among Indian fans when he did not acknowledge Gukesh as the top player in the world.

Gukesh, who had beaten Larsen in a rapid format match earlier this year, is ranked No. 5 in the world with an ELO rating of 2783, while Larsen is the No. 1 with a rating of 2831. Gukesh’s compatriot Arjun Erigaisi is ranked No. 4.

In his analysis on the TakeTakeTake app stream, Carlsen declined a showdown match with Gukesh, as desired by the Indian Grandmaster.

“I am not part of this circus any more,” he said, making obvious his low opinion of the World Championship format. Carlsen lauded Gukesh’s performance but said he was probably the second best player in the world — an indirect reference to himself being the best.

“It’s a really good thing for him, he has the title now for two years. Winning this championship is extremely motivating, so there is a very good chance that he is going to go for a great run of results now and probably become the number two player now and maybe number one in the not so distant future,” Larsen stated.