Father quit his job, mother sole bread-earner, financial hardships: A tale of world's youngest chess champion's hardwork and resilience
PTC News Desk: Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju scripted history after clinching the title of world's youngest chess champion as beating China's Ding Liren in a dramatic turn of events. Dommaraju, 18, is four years younger than the former record-holder, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he won the title in 1985.
Words seems to take a back seat while describing how this young boy turned his dreams into reality. D Gukesh was all of seven when he dreamt of becoming the world champion in chess. Indian grandmaster beat defending champion Ding Liren of China in a 14-game marathon and became second Indian after Vishwanathan Anand to win this prestigious title.
The journey of world's youngest chess champion
It was not until seven, when he realised a dream of becoming world champion in chess. The journey has involved many sacrifices from both Gukesh and his parents. His father Rajnikanth had to quit his job as ENT surgeon and Padma, a microbiologist had to bear the burden on her shoulders. Rajnikanth couldn't practice between the year 2017-18 as the father son duo had to travel across the globe while his mother became the sole breadwinner of the family. The frequent travel for the games was also not easy as the family had a limited budget.
"We were not a very well-off family, so they had to face a lot of financial struggles. But I did not realise it at that time. At some point in 2017 and 2018, we were running so low on money that my parents' friends sponsored me. My parents had to make many lifestyle changes just for me to play tournaments. They made the most sacrifices," Gukesh said.
The chess journey of the now world champion kicked off in 2013. The constant practice and hardwork earned him the title of International Master after a tournament in 2017 in Cannes, France. Not to mention 2013 was the same year when Viswanathan Anand was defeated by the Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen, losing his world title.
Gukesh's passion for the 64-square chess board prompted his parents to stop him from attending school full-time after Class IV. Soon after in 2019, he clinched the title of second youngest Grandmaster in history.
All this while Gukesh managed the finances without any sponsors and with the help of prize money and crowd funding initiatives by his parents.
All the years of hardwork resilience and unmatched sacrifices eventually yielded the results.
- With inputs from agencies
