India’s D Gukesh won the FIDE Candidates 2024 competition in Toronto, Canada, on Monday, holding USA’s Hikaru Nakamura to a draw in the championship round. Gukesh added the draw and half a point to his score and moved to the top of the table with nine points after stifling Nakamura’s attack with white pieces.
The match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana was then crucial to the Indians’ chances of winning the title; a victory by either player would send the competition into a playoff.
Gukesh became the youngest winner of the Candidates competition after the match finished in a tie. In addition, the 17-year-old followed Viswanathan Anand as the only other Indian to advance to the World Championship final in the classical format.
Despite being the third-youngest competitor in the tournament’s history, behind Magnus Carlsen and Bobby Fischer, Gukesh was not widely regarded as the favourite to win.
On the route to a historic title victory, the Indian teenager, however, remained remarkably composed throughout the competition, winning five games and losing just one, to France’s Alireza Firouzja.