Gukesh D secures spot in FIDE Candidates 2024, becomes third Indian to qualify

Gukesh D will be the second-youngest participant of Candidates.

Dommaraju Gukesh qualified for the FIDE Candidates 2024 through FIDE circuit. The 17-year-old from Chennai booked the second position after his main competitors – Anish Giri and Arjun Erigaisi did not manage to improve their score in the last point-heavy event of the year, the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

“Qualifying for the Candidates was surely the most important goal for me this year. I was already thinking about it the previous year, and I really wanted it make it this year,” Gukesh told Hindustan Times. “Surely, it’s a huge achievement for me, as it would be for any chess player. It’s a dream tournament, and I’ll try to give my best at the Candidates.”

Gukesh’s qualification means that for the first time in history, three Indian players -- Praggnanandhaa R (a World Cup finalist) and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (the winner of FIDE Grand Swiss) being the other two, will compete in the FIDE Candidates.

“At some point, I was in a really good place (to qualify for the Candidates) but then, partly because of the pressure I think, I slipped a bit. It looked very unlikely that I’ll make it. But the Chennai tournament was a very important one, and I’m very happy that I managed to give a clutch performance there and make it to the Candidates,” Gukesh added.

“It’s very nice that there will be three Indians at the Candidates. It’s a huge achievement for Indian chess in general. Indian chess seems to be going in a very good direction. I hope that it will be even better in the future.”

Gukesh, who was born on May 29, 2006, will be the second-youngest participant of Candidates. The youngest was Robert Fischer, who took part in the 1959 Candidates aged 16.