World chess enters Indian era as Gukesh, 17, takes on Ding 

International chess could be heading for an Indian era to match the Soviet Union’s dominance of the 20th century. Gukesh Dommaraju’s victory in last week’s Candidates in Toronto has the potential to spark a boom in a nation where, in its Chennai and Tamil Nadu heartland, the indoor game is already a credible rival to cricket.  

When Gukesh arrived back in Chennai after the long flight from Toronto, it was 3am, but there were still hundreds of fans at the airport as he was garlanded and gave an impromptu press conference. Congratulations came from India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and from the cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar.

Gukesh has the personality and looks to become a media hero. Articulate and fluent, he delivered the right sound bites to an expectant public when he said: “Wherever I play, the goal is to be focused and to win the match.  Ding is a strong player, but I have full belief that I can beat him. I will prepare well for him.”

India looks sure to bid for the 14-game series Gukesh v Ding Liren world championship match, which the global body Fide has already scheduled for November 20 to December 15. Before that, there is the 180-nation chess Olympiad at Budapest, Hungary, from September 10 to 23, where India’s  team of five, which is expected to include Gukesh and two other under-21s, will challenge the recognised top two countries China and the United States.

Russia, which as the USSR dominated chess in the second half of the 20th century, will be absent, its teams banned by Fide due to the invasion of Ukraine. Several top Russian players have transferred to other countries, so that they would no longer be favourites.

Instead, Moscow is already planning for the long-term future. At last weekend’s world under-12 blitz championships, five of the top six finishers were Russian, while in the under-10 Roman Shogdzhiev won all 11 games. That is the boy who, aged eight, defeated five grandmasters at the 2023 World Rapid and Blitz.

The video of the final moments at Toronto, where Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi fought for 109 moves before agreeing the draw which neither of them wanted, reveal the intense emotions of a pair who have aimed for more than a decade for the supreme goal, only to be denied when on the brink of success. “I am really sorry,” says the Russian.  “My fault” replies the American, who missed several winning chances in the final session.

The trio of Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, and Hikaru Nakamura, who drew with Gukesh in the final round, will have another chance in 2026, but the biological clock is ticking. All will be in their middle or late thirties then.

At age nine, England’s youngest chess hope, Bodhana Sivanandan. set another impressive record on Sunday. The Harrow primary school pupil achieved her first women’s international master norm with 4.5/9 at the European Women’s Championship in Rhodes, Greece. Her rating performance (TPR) was 2265 against the minimum required of 2250. She now needs another two norms for the WIM title.

It was not easy, as almost all her opponents were higher rated. Sivanandan began well, converting a passed pawn against a strong Armenian, before falling back with a marathon 139-move loss to the England No1, Jovanka Houska, where the decisive error came at move 93. Then she rallied again, and played very solidly to remain unbeaten for the next four rounds.

In Fide’s May rating list, Sivanandan is likely to appear as the world No 1 nine-year-old, ahead of all the boys.

Puzzle 2570

James Howell v Matthias Wahls, Gausdal 1986. White, a bishop down, to move and win.

Click here for solution