Indian chess has been on the upward trajectory for the past two years or so, but no one can deny that 2024 has been a year where the sport took a quantum leap. The year kicked-off with Candidates tournament in Toronto, Canada where five Indians made the cut in the open field despite the tricky qualification demands of the competition. Only eight qualify for the Candidates. While D Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi made the cut in the eight-man line-up, Koneru Humpy and Vaishali Rameshbabu were part of the eight-women category.
In the men’s category, Gukesh earned his shot at challenging Ding Liren for the world title, overcoming several challenges despite the presence of veterans like Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. He became the youngest-ever to win a shot at the world title.
However, this was just the start of what turned out to be an unprecedented year for Indian chess. With over 180 nations participating in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest, the Indian contingent won open team golds in both men’s and women’s category.
India also won four individual golds to clinch most medals on offer – Gukesh (Board 1) and Arjun Erigaisi (Board 3) in open category, while Divya Deshmukh (Board 4) and Vantika Agrawal (Board 4) in women’s category.
Just like Gukesh, Erigaisi too peaked in 2024. After missing out on the candidates, he became only the second Indian after five-time champion Viswanathan Anand, and 16th overall, to achieve the gold-standard ELO rating of 2800. He was on 2801 rating point as per the latest update, and also achieved his peak ranking of no. 3.
Divya Deshmukh too had a momentous 2024 as she won the girl’s title at the FIDE World Junior Chess Championship in Gandhinagar. She is also knocking on the door to become only the fourth woman from the country to earn the title of Grandmaster.
And to top all that, Gukesh made the most of his classical world title shot, beating defending champion Ding Liren to triumph. Gukesh beat Ding in the 14-game tie in Singapore, becoming the youngest-ever world champion. His triumph also meant that India got its second world champions after Vishy.
After Gukesh’s triumph, chess legend Garry Kasparov, who was the previous youngest world champion, brilliantly summed up India’s sudden rise in chess.
“Gukesh’s victory caps a phenomenal year for India. Combined with their Olympiad dominance, chess has returned to its cradle and the era of ‘Vishy’s children’ is truly upon us!” Kasparov highlighted while congratulating Gukesh on breaking his record.
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