Credits: X
Newly crowned World Champion D Gukesh is set to miss the forthcoming FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships which is scheduled to be held in New York. Notably, Gukesh was recently crowned the world’s youngest Chess Champion after he took down Ding Liren of China in Singapore in the 14th round. He had earlier said that he was no longer certain of competing at the competition, which is set to start from December 26 to December 31.
Gukesh’s name was featured in the extended list of players, which was published by the FIDE earlier this month. He had said, “No, I will not be playing rapid and blitz.” Gukesh indicated that he is set to take a mini break from the board, his father Rajnikanth said that he does not generally prefer to take breaks. Rajnikanth said, “There are some top players who do not strain much. But when it comes to Gukesh, he likes playing games. He learns a lot from his wins and losses. Staying at home is not his style, he could become restless if I ask him to do it.”
Watch Gukesh's crowning moment:
Gukesh took down Ding Liren in decisive Game 14
The 18-year-old chess player from India had won the decisive Game 14 in the World Championship, which is a classical formal event. The game saw Ding creating a huge blunder in the end game on December 12, which ultimately led to his defeat. Gukesh is the only second Indian since Viswanathan Anand to win the World Championship. Anand had won the tournament in 2012.
The youngster will receive a whopping INR 11.45 Crore as prize money from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) for winning the tournament. While Gukesh will give the tournament a miss, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will be hogging the limelight at the forthcoming tournament. Names like Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa will represent India at the upcoming event.
