"The ICEMAN prevails," says Mahindra as Gukesh becomes youngest Indian to win Candidates

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, hailed India’s 17-year-old phenomenon D Gukesh for winning the FIDE Candidates. He is the youngest player to win the Candidates chess tournament.

In a post on X (formally twitter), Mahindra wrote, "The ICEMAN prevails!! He comes from a swelteringly hot state, but he's shown he can keep his cool even when  competitive heat is at its peak.

Just 17 years old, 
@DGukesh
 has a long and shining future ahead of him.
And so does Indian Chess.

An entire nation stands and Cheers this Chaturanga Champ"

In another post, Mahindra also shared a picture of the prodigy and him playing for the camera at an event.

"In addition to his obvious technical skills, this young man @DGukesh has coolness, composure & maturity beyond his years. 

Which is why — no matter whether he stays on top tomorrow or not — it’s clear he’s going to be a star for many years & will inspire new generations of Indians to take up the game.

I will keep a special place in my albums for this pic, which was taken at the press conference of the launch of the Tech Mahindra 
@GCLlive
 in Dubai last year, just after he had turned 17! 

( We played for the camera…I used the Ruy Lopez opening & he very graciously called it a draw after a few moves to save me enormous embarrassment! 🙂)," read his post.

Young prodigy

The 17-year-old became the youngest-ever winner of the FIDE Candidates, and also will be the youngest in chess history to challenge for the FIDE World Championship later this year, against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China.

Gukesh is also the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2014 to win the Candidates.

Gukesh comes from Chennai and in a very short career, he has made many firsts. He was also India's youngest grandmaster at the age of 12 years and seven months and 17 days. He went past Anand as India's top ranked player for the first time in 26 years. Gukesh was kept away from playing against chess engines to hone his skills and the effort was more on playing with a trainer.

Gukesh's trainer Vishnu avoided playing against chess engines from early days, taking a unique route in training methods. He says it was a risky decision but something which has paid off dividends.