WATCH: 17-year-old Gukesh breaks into rare smile after fans in Toronto sing his name

Throughout the grueling three weeks of chess, the 17-year-old Gukesh hardly ever showed a tinge of emotion. On Monday after becoming the ever World Chess Championship contender, the boy from Chennai was seen smiling after he heard the fans in Toronto were singing his name.

Gukesh will challenge Dang Liren at World Championships.

In the video going viral on the social media, Gukesh was received a thunderous applause from the fans outside the arena. Gukesh couldn’t control his smile after he heard the chants of “Gukesh, Gukesh!”

The interviewer asked Gukesh: “How do you feel?”

Teenagers these days pic.twitter.com/6sZClEI1SL

— Mike Klein (@ChessMike) April 22, 2024

“Amazing! Right now I am just so relieved. I was watching this Nepo game,” said the youngster reflecting on the match between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana, who battled for 109 moves before agreeing to a draw.

“Right now I am just relieved. It has been an amazing three weeks. Right now I am just so happy,” said Gukesh.

Gukesh was the second youngest player ever to compete at the prestigious Candidates tournament, and he also become the youngest ever winner of the event (which will also make him the youngest ever to compete at the World Chess Championship) after his draw against Hikaru Nakamura in the final round of the Candidates chess tournament.

“It’s very nice. It was always my goal to play the world championship, win the world champion title. Now that I have the chance I am really grateful for the chance I have gotten. Really looking forward to playing in it,” he said.

The teenager had a special message for the fans in Toronto and in India as well.

“Everyone who was cheering for me for the game, there were so many people cheering, so many people showing their love. It means a lot to me. It gave me the additional energy I needed. Thank you everyone, who has supported me,” he said.

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