Behind Gukesh’s success lies his parents’ sacrifices

CHENNAI: Young Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh may be grabbing headlines after his historic win at the Candidates but away from the spotlight lies the stories of sacrifice by his parents, who had to put careers on hold, dig into their savings and also turn to crowd-funding to fuel his dream.

The 17-year-old won the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto on Monday to become the youngest ever challenger to the world title, bettering a record created by the legendary Garry Kasparov 40 years ago.

But the journey to the top was a tough one and involved sacrifices not only from him but his parents -- ENT surgeon Dr Rajinikanth and Padma, a microbiologist.

Rajinikanth had to stop practice in 2017-18 as the father-son duo travelled across the world on a shoe-string budget when Gukesh chased the final GM norm, while his mother turned the primary breadwinner, taking care of the household expenses.

“His parents have sacrificed a lot,” Gukesh’s childhood coach Vishnu Prasanna told media.

“While his father has almost surrendered his career. His mother has been supporting the family while his father has been travelling, and they hardly get to see each other.”

Gukesh became India’s youngest Grandmaster at 12 years, seven months and 17 days in January 2019.