WORLD CHAMPION HEADING TO CZECHIA!
AFTER 95 YEARS!
The reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju will compete in the closed Masters tournament in Prague, where he is scheduled to play nine games. Among his opponents will be the two strongest Czech players of recent years, Thai Dai Van Nguyen and David Navara. Navara has faced Gukesh D three times, winning twice and drawing once. His most recent victory dates back to Prague 2024, when Gukesh was not yet world champion and was preparing for the Candidates Tournament. Van Nguyen, the youngest GM in Czech history, has recorded one draw and one loss against Gukesh, both of which also happened in Prague 2024.
Gukesh D won the Candidates Tournament in 2024 and became the youngest challenger in history. The world championship match was long and tightly contested. He won the decisive fourteenth game against Ding Liren on 12 December, after the Chinese player made a gross mistake in the endgame. Gukesh, aged 18 years and 6 months at the time, thus became the youngest world champion in history, surpassing the previous record set by GM Garry Kasparov in 1985, when Kasparov was 22 years and 7 months old.
In March 2019, Dommaraju had already become the third youngest grandmaster in history. He is also the fourth youngest player to reach an Elo rating of 2700 and the youngest player ever to reach 2750. In September 2023, it was the first time in 37 years that Viswanathan Anand was no longer India’s number one player.
In fact, Gukesh did not learn chess until the age of seven, which is relatively late for a player at the very top level. However, his career began at an extraordinary pace: only six months passed between his first learning the moves and becoming a FIDE-rated player. He credits his coach Bhaskar and his father, who has supported him both financially and in the role of manager.
“His strategic dominance and unique thinking set him apart from his opponents. His ability to understand chess and his willingness to learn will bring him many further successes,” said his coach, Indian grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna, several years ago. And he was right!
“I am very excited to see the world champion accepting our invitation. This is a historic moment for Czech chess as a whole, and it is great to see our Festival at the center of it,” says Petr Boleslav, director of the Prague International Chess Festival, adding: “I believe the Festival will be a great show for chess fans and a great opportunity for players to measure their strengths in well-prepared tournaments. We expect around 400 participants in the open tournaments.”
SERIOUS GAMES AFTER 95 YEARS
The reigning world champion has not played a serious game in the territory of the former Czechoslovakia for 95 years. The last time Frenchman Alexander Alekhine played the prestigious Chess Olympiad in Prague was in 1931. Indian Viswanathan Anand visited Prague in 2011 as part of the ČEZ Chess Trophy, but he only played a simultaneous match. Nine years later, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen played only a few friendly games with Czech chess players in Prague.
