Who is Gukesh D, youngest winner of Candidates tournament and the youngest World Championships challenger?

Indian Grandmaster Gukesh D scripted history after becoming the youngest Candidates tournament winner and the youngest challenger to the World Championship crown on Sunday.

Gukesh accumulated nine out of a possible 14 points here after drawing his final round game against American Hikaru Nakamura.

The Indian needed the last game between Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi and top-seeded American Fabiano Caruana to end in a draw and true to his and several others' wishes, that is exactly how things panned out in the end.

Here's everything you need to know about Gukesh D: 

• Born on May 29, 2006 in Chennai, Gukesh first came in the limelight after winning the Asian School Chess Championships in the Under-9 category in 2015.


• 2018 proved to be a breakthrough year for Gukesh after he won the World Youth Chess Championships in the Under-12 category. He also clinched five gold medals at the Asian Youth Chess Championships in the Under-12 individual rapid and blitz, team rapid and blitz and individual classical formats.


• In January 2019, Gukesh became the second youngest Grandmaster in history, at the time, at the age of 12 years, 7 months and 17 days at the Delhi International chess meet.


• In September 2022, Gukesh passed the rating of over 2700 for the first time, with a rating of 2726, which made him the third youngest to pass the mark after Wei Yi and Alireza Firouzja.

• A month later, he became the youngest player to beat Magnus Carlsen at the Aimchess Rapid tournament, since the Norwegian became World Champion.


• He carried his good run into 2023 when he became the youngest ever player to reach a rating of 2750 in August and a month later, he surpassed Viswanathan Anand as the top-ranked Indian player. Gukesh reached the quarter-finals of the 2023 Chess World Cup, where he lost to Carlsen.


• In April 2024, Gukesh became the youngest winner of the Candidates tournament held in Toronto, Canada, also becoming the youngest World Championship challenger and will face reigning champion Ding Liren from China later this year.