Gukesh D: Height, Age, Net Worth, Career, Achievements, and More 

Gukesh Dommaraju, mainly known as Gukesh D is the current chessmaster of India as well as world. He is a Professional Chess Player who recently won the World Chess Championship in 2024. Gukesh’s passion for chess made him pursue a full fledged career in chess. He is playing Chess at a young age of Seven. In this article we have provided in depth information about Gukesh’s Life, His journey to become world chess champion, His net worth and more.  

Gukesh D Biography 

Gukesh was born on May 29th, 2006 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His family hails from a small village of Chenchu Raju Kandriga, near Satyavedu in the Tirupati District of Andhra Pradesh. Gukesh professes hinduism and follows its customs and traditions. His zodiac sign is Gemini. Currently, Gukesh resides in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Gukesh started playing chess at a Young age of seven. 

Gukesh D Age

Gukesh D age as of now is currently 18 years old. Gukesh has earned so much at such a young age and has built a strong career and name for himself, he has been entitled with so many awards and achievements.

Gukesh Height & Physical Appearance

Gukesh is a very simple and sober person. Yet he has a very charismatic personality. His sharp brain and intelligence is an add on to his personality. Talking about his physical appearance, he stands at a tall height of 5 feet 9 inches and weighs around 65 kg. He has beautiful black colored eyes along with naturally black hair. However, these measurements may not be accurate and can vary. 

Gukesh Educational Qualification

Beside being the chess wizard, Gukesh is also academically bright and studious student. Gukeh completed his Primary Education till standard 6th from the Velammal Vidyalaya School in Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai. However, due to his immense zeal and passion for chess, he got dropped off from his school to focus completely on his chess career. According to Gukesh’s mother, Not sending Gukesh school was one of the toughest calls and the most pivotal and unconventional choices. 

Gukesh’s Early Life 

Gukesh learned to play chess in 2013, at a very young age of seven, Initially he attended school, but dropped out after Class IV, to focus on his chess career. In 2017, his father quit his profession of doctor to focus more on Gukesh’s chess career and travel along with Gukesh to various events and tournaments. His undeniable hardwork and dedication paid off and his exceptional talent became recognized leading him to become one of the top robust Indian chess ecosystems.

Gukesh’s Family Background 

Gukesh was both born and raised in Chennai. He hails from a Telugu family from Andhra Pradesh. His Father’s name is Rajnikanth who is an ENT Surgeon, who relocated to Chennai from Andhra Pradesh to pursue his career. His Mother’s name is Padmakumari, who is a Microbiologist. His parents had a love marriage. Gukesh natively hails from the village of Chenchu Raju Kandriga, near Satyavedu in the Tirupati District of Andhra Pradesh. His Grandfather Shankar Raju was born and raised in Chenchu Raju Kandriga and worked in the Indian Railways. The family owns properties in Chenchu Raju Kandriga, where Shankar Raju currently lives. Gulesh’s Parents have always been very supportive and encouraging. They have always supported Gukesh in every decision. Also his parents have sacrificed a lot for him, His father left his job for Gukesh to focus on his Chess Career. 

Gukesh Professional Career

Early Chess Career of Gukesh D 

Gukesh learned to play chess when he was seven years old. Gukesh hails from Chennai, India, the same city from where the Former Grand Master, Vishwanatahan Ananad came. Gukesh came to know about Chess through his school, which is a part of the Velammal group of schools across Chennai and gave birth to talents like Grand Masters like Murali Karthikeyan and Praggnanandhaa R.Aravindh Chithambaram. 

Gukesh’s first coach at the school was Mr. Bhaskar who helped Gukesh to become a Fide-rated player within six months of learning the game. After two years while being trained by Mr. Vijayanand Gukesh found success at the international level.

In 2015, Gukesh won the under-9 section in the Asian School Chess Championship and also earned the title of Candidate Master. In 2018, Gukesh topped his first major. He won five gold medals: under-12 individual classical, under-12 individual rapid and blitz, and under-12 team rapid and blitz, at the Asian Youth Chess Championships. In the same year, Gukesh won the under-12 title at the World Youth Championships with 10/11 points.

Gukesh D Professional Chess Career

• In 2015, Gukesh won the Asian School Chess Championships held under- 9th section.
• In 2018, he won the World Youth Chess Championship in the under-12 category. In the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship, he made a record by winning  five gold medals in the under-12 events in individual Blitz, rapid and classical formats, and also in the team rapid and blitz competitions.
• In March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-La Grande Open, He completed the requirements for the title of International Master
• On 15 January 2019, Gukesh became the then Second Youngest Grandmaster in the history of the game just at a young age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days after Sergey Karjakin.
• In June 2021, he won the Julius Baer challengers chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, scoring 14 out of 19 points

Becoming World Champion 

With a victory in the Junior Speed Chess Championship held in 2023, Gukesh continued the legacy and strong junior career. He defeated IM Emim Ohanyan, GM Pranav V, and GM Raunak Sadhwanai and wore the crown at the Eight Player Knockout Tournament. In July, he became the youngest player to cross the 2750 FIDE rating barrier. In December 2023, he won the Chennai Masters that paved a way for him to reach the list of 2024 Candidates Tournament. 

On 4 April, 2024, Gukesh entered the candidates tournament. However, After the fifth round, he tied for first place. In Round Seven, Gukesh lost to GM Alireza Firouzja but what happened next was something that none of us imagined that it would turn out to be a bump in the road, although Gukesh was yet to come at the first position by round 11. However, in the 12 and 13th round flipped the game with two straight victories over GM Nijat Abasov and then in the rematch against Firouzja.

Gukesh Awards and Achievements

Gukesh D Net Worth

Gukesh with a good established career has accumulated a good amount of wealth. Gukesh D net worth as of now is estimated to be around 20 Crore after winning the World Chess Championship and making an increase of 12 crore from his previous year net worth. His major source of income is derived through his chess tournaments, social media, collaboration, brand endorsements and more. He also owns a luxurious Mercedes- Benz-E, that he received as a Gift from his School Vellamal Vidyalaya. 

Social Media Profiles of Gukesh 

Gukesh with his well established career has built a good name in the industry and has gathered a good amount of followers and fans. He is quite active on his social media account and constantly shares about his professional and personal updates to his fans. He has a total of more than 1.5 million followers on his social media handles.

• He has an Instagram account with the name ‘@gukesh.official’ with 1.5 million followers.
• He also has an account on Facebook and Twitter with the name ‘Gukesh D’ and ‘@DGukesh’ with 20,700 and 1,87,200 followers respectively .

Trivia

• Gukesh started playing Chess at a young age of Seven.
• Gukesh Father left his job of Doctor to support and Focus on Gukesh’s Career. 
• Gukesh Followed the Playing Style of R Praggnanandhaa during his Early Chess Learning. 
• Gukesh Received the Cash Prize of 11 crore after winning the World Chess Championship. However, Gukesh had to give off 4.67 Crore in Income Tax.

FAQs

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