Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju has become the youngest world chess champion ever after defeating defending champion Ding Liren of China in a dramatic turnaround on Thursday.

At 18, Dommaraju is four years younger than Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov when he won the title in 1985 at the age of 22.

The prodigy from Chennai has long been a superstar in the chess world, achieving chess grandmaster status at the age of 12.

But he was considered the challenger ahead of the final of this year’s FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore.

With Black, Dommaraju won the game after Ding made a rare mistake under pressure while in a stable position, match commentators observed.

The 18-year-old took the title with a final score of 7.5-6.5 – ending two weeks in which the pair’s games had been closely watched by chess fans around the world.

Since winning the title in 2023, Ding has been under pressure for his form throughout the year.

The Chinese player had not won a long-format “classic” match since January and appeared to be avoiding other top-level competitions.

But he had shown a strong opening game and won the penultimate game against Dommaraju, which suggests momentum.

Both players had two wins and eight draws each before the final game on Thursday.

After hours of close play, on move 55 Ding put his rook in a fatally weak position, giving Dommaraju an opportunity to capitalize.

Ding immediately realized his mistake and collapsed onto the table.

“Ding seemed to have a risk-free chance to push for a win, but instead ended up in a pawn-minus endgame,” Chess.com wrote in its post-game recap. “It should have been a draw but Ding made a mistake as the pressure mounted.”

From there it was the endgame. Three moves later, Ding gave up.

Dommaraju immediately burst into tears as the audience cheered in the hall.

“I was probably so emotional because I didn’t really expect to win that position,” he reportedly said.

At 18, he is only the second Indian player to become world chess champion after five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Narendra Modi was among the first public figures to shower praise.

“Historic and exemplary!” He wrote on X. “Congratulations to Gukesh D on his remarkable achievement. This is the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination.”

The FIDE World Chess Championship has prize money of $2.5 million (£1.96 million).