Athlete of the Year, Male has sort of been a foregone conclusion in Indian sport ever since a golden night in Tokyo in 2021. A unanimous choice always, that award's been kept aside for Neeraj Chopra despite some outstanding feats from others in recent times. Even after Paris 2024, the vote was split -- Harmanpreet Singh made quite the case for himself with Olympic bronze, but Neeraj seemed destined to win after his silver medal.
Enter Dommaraju Gukesh and his 16 chess pieces.
2024's pick was unanimous once again, but this time it's for an unassuming, humble 18-year-old boy who was barely on anyone's radar at the start of the year.
Now within the chess community, Gukesh had already made waves -- he became India's youngest grandmaster aged 12, ended Viswanathan Anand's 37-year reign as India no.1 aged 17 and looked prime to take on the world. And yet, among the crop of 'Vishy's kids', he wasn't the one grabbing the spotlight, he wasn't the one getting top billing.
Like always, the world was ready to underestimate D Gukesh.
R Praggnanandhaa was the poster-boy for Indian chess after his Chess World Cup heroics last year. Gukesh was struggling to even make the Candidates -- so even when he qualified with a last-gasp win at the 2023 Chennai Masters, no one gave him a shot at the Candidates. Ahead of the Candidates, Magnus Carlsen said "I cannot imagine him winning. It's more likely he'll have a bad event rather than a good event."
Underestimated again, D Gukesh and his 16 chess pieces pulled off brilliantly strategic results, knowing when to push and pull, and at the end of the tournament, stunned the world by becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Candidates. The likes of Ian Nepomniachtchi, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura had been dealt with, as Gukesh's meditative nature triumphed amidst the pressure of this high-stakes tournament -- where more experienced, higher-rated heads crumbled.
And still, he was underestimated again, as he took board 1 in the Chess Olympiad later in the year. He'd played it safe in the Candidates against top-ranked opponents -- and there was a question if he could handle the volume of elite opposition in board 1. Surely the higher-rated Arjun Erigaisi would be a better option? Even Praggnanandhaa had bigger wins against the Carlsens of the world on his CV.
Gukesh, and his 16 chess pieces went on a tear at the Olympiad. He produced one of the best-ever tournament performances (over a rating of 3000) as India swept the tournament. Gold on board 1, Gold(s) for India.
Ding Liren, reigning world champion, but in terrible form, was up next. But there were already those ready to tear down the contest in Singapore. They had wisened up to Gukesh's ability on the board, so instead attacked the institution itself. How could the world championship be decided between the world no. 21 Ding and world no. 5 Gukesh? Would this be a true world champion with world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen refusing to take part?
The claws came out after a loss in game 1 -- Gukesh was too raw, too reliant on his calculations to deal with the surprises and changing tides of a world championship. 'If this was Magnus' was a familiar cry during the contest -- the chess world asking for intuitive positional chess, rather than the deeply calculating style of Gukesh.
How could you label this 18-year-old to be only reliant on calculation when his entire career had been an almighty gamble? Academics were ignored, financial strife of his parents accepted - all in the pursuit of a childhood dream sparked upon witnessing Carlsen taking the world title away from Anand in 2013.
The world had been fooled -- there was intuitive chess being played, but not on the board. Gukesh the player was a calculating maestro with his 16 pieces, but Gukesh the champion saved his intuition for the person opposite him. He played Ding, not the board -- and it came to that climax in game 14. The world had decided it was a draw, the engines had too, perhaps even Ding, and yet Gukesh continued on. That meditative stance, that steadfast refusal to continue even in a drawn position and then... the blunder came from Ding.
Gukesh's intuition had won out. This was barely a child, and he'd shouldered the expectations of a nation, batted away all critics, and answered all questions posed to him with a stoic calm of a seasoned general. Now, he was the youngest world chess champion. The tears flowed as the reality of the victory hit him, and his 18-year-old ness was laid bare. Collapsing into his father's arms, Gukesh could allow himself to be that child once more, who dreamed big.
All year long, D Gukesh had been underestimated, with detractors every ready to tear him down. All year long, he responded by simply rising above it all, closing his eyes, meditating with his 16 pieces, and winning and winning and winning.
Dommaraju Gukesh, and his 16 chess pieces, are taking over the world. And that is why he is ESPN India's (Male) Athlete of the Year.