Teenager Jokesh Domaraju of India became the youngest world chess champion by defeating defending champion Ding Liren of China on Thursday in a dramatic turn of events in the final game of a 14-game match in Singapore.
The 18th world champion is 18 years old, four years younger than Garry Kasparov, who was the youngest world champion since 1985 when he beat Anatoly Karpov.
Jokic won Thursday’s match with the black pieces after Deng wilted under pressure and blundered in what the commentators saw as a comfortable position, clinching the title with a final score of 7.5-6.5.
“I was probably very emotional because I didn’t really expect to win this position,” Jokisch told reporters.
Ding, whose form has declined since beating Russian Ian Nepomniatchi to win the title in 2023, has not won a long-running “classic” since January and has largely avoided major events in an attempt to improve.
But the Chinese player regained his confidence after a surprise victory in the first round of the match, and after two wins for Jokic and eight draws, he equalized the score in the 12th round with a victory that was praised by many commentators.
“We all know who Deng is, he has been one of the best players in history for many years,” Jokic added.
The match was a long-running 14-round “classic” event with a prize money of $2.5 million.
Jokish had qualified in April by winning the Candidates Tournament, an eight-player, double-round tournament featuring fellow Indians Rameshbabu Pragnananda and Vidit Gujrati.
They and their teammates from India won gold in the open and women’s divisions at the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest in September, something that many professionals attributed to former world champion Viswanathan Anand’s efforts to promote chess in the country.
Magnus Carlsen, ranked number one in the world, who had been world champion since 2013, relinquished his title in 2022, due to his lack of motivation.
“Becoming a world champion doesn’t mean I’m the best player in the world, obviously there’s Magnus, so it’s also a motivating factor,” Jokic said.