Gukesh stopped regular school at class IV, no sponsor, father quit job, mother had to…: Story of youngest world champ
Gukesh's father, Rajinikanth, had to quit his well-respected job as an ENT surgeon, and Padma, a microbiologist, had to take up the mantle for the family.
D Gukesh was all of seven when he dreamed of becoming the world champion in chess. His parents believed in him but that he would realise his dream in only 11 years, becoming the youngest chess world champion at 18, did not cross their minds. When the Indian grandmaster beat defending champion Ding Liren of China in a 14-game marathon that went right down to the wire to become only the second Indian after Vishwanathan Anand to win the coveted crown, it took some time for his father, Rajinikanth and mother Padma Kumari to believe. Years of hard work, unparalleled sacrifice and unmatched determination finally yielded results.
The tears in Gukesh's eyes and the shock in his father's expression were the biggest proof. Moments later, the embrace that followed between the two was just an emotional culmination of a long journey.
"I have been dreaming about this moment since I started my chess journey at about 7... but the dream was probably bigger for them than it was for me," Gukesh said about his parents after beating Ding in the dying stages of the 14th game on Thursday. The Indian secured the requisite 7.5 points as against 6.5 of Liren after winning the last classical time control game of the 14-game match that seemed headed for a draw for the most part.
Gukesh's father quit job, mother became sole bread-earner
The journey to the top hasn't been easy and has involved sacrifices not only from Gukesh but also from his parents. Father Rajinikanth had to quit his well-respected job as an ENT surgeon, and Padma, a microbiologist, had to take up the mantle for the family.
Rajinikanth had to stop practice in 2017-18 as the father-son duo travelled across the world on a shoe-string budget when Gukesh chased the final GM norm, while his mother became the primary breadwinner, taking care of the household expenses.
"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.
Gukesh's chess journey started with one hour and thrice-a-week lessons in 2013, the year Viswanathan Anand lost his world title to Norwegian maverick Magnus Carlsen.
Multiple-times age group championship winner, Gukesh became an International Master after a tournament in 2017 after a tournament in Cannes, France.
The young champion's early success included a gold-winning performance in the under-9 Asian school championship and the World Youth Chess Championships in 2018 in the under-12 category.
Gukesh's passion for the 64-square chess board prompted his parents to stop him from attending school full-time after Class IV.
In 2019, during a tournament in New Delhi, Gukesh became the second youngest Grandmaster in history. This record was then surpassed by only Sergey Karjakin of Russia but later broken by Abhimanyu Mishra, an Indian-American talent from the USA.
Gukesh continued his rapid rise, ticking off one milestone after the other. However, while all this was happening, Gukesh was without a sponsor and had to manage his finances through prize money and parents' crowd-funding initiatives.
Despite the many challenges, he went on to overtake his idol Anand as India's no.1 last year. And it was a stroke of destiny that Anand was the one who went on to polish him in the Westbridge-Anand Chess Academy that came into existence in 2020 during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, which had put a halt to most sporting activities.
"During that period, we used to train at Vishwanathan Anand's academy and utilise the ample time that we had," Prasanna had said.
Recommended Topics