Gukesh joins Pragg, Gujrathi, confirms his Candidates spot

Gukesh D spent the last five days in Samarkand, Uzbekistan away from the year-end tournament’s top standings, confetti and broadcast cameras but managed to quietly put to bed the gnawing, crushing pressure of the past few months. The 17-year-old confirmed his place in next year’s Candidates tournament after he retained his Fide circuit lead at the end of the World Rapid and Blitz Championships.

He becomes the third Indian to make the Candidates tournament, joining R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi. He is the third youngest male player – after Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen – to qualify for the Candidates. The Women's Candidates features two Indians - Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali, Praggnanandhaa's sister.

It helped that Gukesh’s closest rival for the spot, Dutchman Anish Giri, didn’t have the sort of flawless tournament run he needed to surpass the Indian in the circuit standings.

It could be said that the Candidates tournament line-up is somewhat reflective of India’s current chess strength. Three Indians – two of them aged 18 or below – feature in a qualifying tournament for the World Championship. That’s 37.5 % Indians in an eight-player tournament, the highest ever from the country at the Candidates.

Midway through this year it appeared as though Gukesh was possibly the chosen one among Indians. Results were rolling in and his qualification prospects appeared sunny. His run at the World Cup ended in a quarterfinal loss to Magnus Carlsen. His performance saw him surpass five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand in the published ratings to become the highest-ranked Indian player.