Watch: D Gukesh passes Chess Championship trophy to proud mother at closing ceremony

India’s D Gukesh wore a broad smile during the closing ceremony of the World Chess Championship. On Thursday, December 12, Gukesh became the youngest world champion after beating China’s Ding Liren in the title clash in Singapore. The 18-year-old won the match 7.5-6.5 and broke the record of Garry Kasparov, who won the title back in 1985 at the age of 22.

Gukesh also became the second Indian after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to win the world championship. During the closing ceremony on Friday, Gukesh’s mother J Padmakumari was also present. After receiving the trophy, Gukesh passed it to his loved one, who was filled with pride after her son’s monumental achievement.

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After the match, Gukesh shed tears and pledged not to touch the trophy until the closing ceremony. “Seeing it up close for the first time… I don’t want to touch it; I want to lift it at the closing ceremony!” Gukesh had said earlier.

Gukesh did not make a great start to the title clash after losing the first game. But he stormed back to make it 6.5-6.5 after 13 games. The 14th game was expected to end in a draw, meaning that the match was heading towards an exciting tie-break. But Ding’s blunder on his 53rd move put Gukesh in a position of strength, after which the latter did not look back.

Gukesh also talked about his ambition of bringing the title back to India after Anand lost to Magnus Carlsen back in 2013 in Chennai.

“When Magnus won, I wanted to be the one to bring back the title to India. This dream that I had more than 10 years ago is the single-most important thing in my life. There’s nothing better than doing this for myself, my loved ones and my country,” Gukesh said in the press conference.

Gukesh also talked about facing Carlsen, but the latter ruled out chances of taking part in the world championships in the future.