He world tournament The chess match that has just been played in Singapore threatens to cause friction beyond the board between China and Russia with India in the middle. It sounds strange, but that is one of the effects that the surprising victory of Gukesh Dommarajuan Indian chess player who, at the age of 18, has become the youngest world chess champion of all time, ousting himself. Gary Kasparovwho was 22 when he achieved that title in Moscow almost three decades ago.

How Gukesh’s victory has led to a mess between China, Russia and India is worthy of the best chess chronicles.

New (and very young) champion. It’s not every day that a new one rises world champion in the world of chess. And it is not every day that an age record is broken among the most select of the Grand Masters. The Indian Gukesh Dommaraju has achieved both. On Thursday, during a duel played in Singapore and that will probably go down in the annals of chess, he managed to prevail (and dethrone) the hitherto champion, the Chinese Ding Liren.

If that were not relevant in itself, Gukesh adds a characteristic that makes him particularly interesting: his age. His young age. He was born in May 2006, making him just over 18 and a half years old. No one had ever managed to become world champion while being just a teenager. Until now the record was held by Garry Kasparov, who was a few years older (22) when he defeated Anatoly Karpov in November 1985in Moscow. Ding himself is 14 years older than Gukesh, born in 1992.

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“And suddenly… a change”. The phrase is from Gukesh. After the game and still digesting his victory, the new world champion told the BBChow throughout the duel with Ding Liren he detected “several opportunities to achieve victory,” but every time he got close, he confesses, his nerves got the best of him. In fact, Ding had already assumed that he would have to face a new game. However, an error in movement 55 He ended up tipping the balance in favor of his opponent. Gukesh knew how to take advantage of the opportunity and the rest is chess history: champion with 18.

“And suddenly… there was a sudden change. I couldn’t process all the new information so quickly,” Gukesh recalls of the moment he realized that luck was smiling on him. In the videos his body language speaks for itself. “The moment I realized it was probably the best of my life,” the Indian assumes. The championship had a fund of 2.5 million of dollars in prizes and Gukesh, in addition to the title, will take home 1.3.

“One of the worst mistakes in 138 years”. The quotation mark on this occasion is from the columnist Bryan Armen Graham, who yesterday described this way in his chronicle of Guardian Ding’s movement that ended up condemning him. “He made one of the worst mistakes in the 138-year history of the matchplay of the world championship.” Shortly after, he says, the defending champion ended up folding after a game of 58 moves. Among the professional players there were also those who were quick to share their incomprehension, if not disappointment or anger, at the role played by Ding Liren .

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik called Ding’s mistake directly “childish” and left a record on the networks about how the quality of the duel had disappointed him. “No comment. Sad. End of chess as we know it.” “Never before has a World Championship title been decided by such a childish mistake in a single move,” tweeted a few hours ago.

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And Andrei Filatov arrived. There is, however, a comment that has generated a special stir in the world of chess. Both for its origin and for what it suggests. After the game, the Russian businessman Andrey Filatov Not only did he share his astonishment at what happened in Singapore, but he asked the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to investigate him, casting the shadow of doubt on Ding Liren’s actions or his possible motivations.

It wouldn’t have much relevance if it weren’t for the fact that Filatov is not just another fan. For years he has also served as president of the Russian Chess Federation, the CFR. His insinuations are serious and have acquired considerable impact because of them has been echoed TASS, the Russian state news agency and one of the largest information agencies on the entire planet. In X has shared them also Peter Heine Nielsen, chess player and coach of Danish origin, in a tweet that this morning had around 140,000 views and thousands of likes.

What does Filatov say? Sow doubts and ask for clarification. “The result of the last game caused confusion among chess professionals and fans,” Filatov reflects in statements reported by TASS: “The actions of the Chinese chess player at the decisive moment are extremely suspicious and require a separate investigation by FIDE. It is difficult for a top-level chess player to lose in a position like the one Ding Lizhen had.” Hence, he insists, he asks that the “doubts” about whether it has been “deliberate” be cleared up.

“He wasn’t in his best shape”. Gukesh himself has acknowledged that his opponent did not show his best side as a chess player during yesterday’s duel. “We all know who Ding is, how much he has had to endure in recent years, under tremendous pressure. He is still a world champion for me, but it is clear that he was not in his best form here,” admits. “Still, he has fought a lot in every game, I want to emphasize that.”

A complex path. Gukesh’s reference to Ding’s “pressure” is neither casual nor a simple gesture of chivalry. Guardian remember that Ding became the first Chinese men’s world chess champion last year, in Kazakhstan, after defeating a Russian opponent, Ian Nepomniachtchi, in Kazakhstan. Since then, the Chinese player had only played 44 games and arrived at the Singapore tournament trailing a long streak of defeats and dropping down in the world ranking.

During the 19 months that have passed since he won the world title, the Chinese player has been dealing with depressionwhich even forced him to take a break. The chronicles about his game yesterday show that, although he started with an advantageous position over Gukesh, Ding opted for a conservative game, first giving up victory in favor of a draw and then directly condemning himself by committing a “deadly mistake”.

Image | International Chess Federation (FIDE)/ Maria Emelianova