How much prize money did D Gukesh earn by winning Candidates Chess tournament?

India’s 17-year-old Grandmaster D Gukesh (Gukesh Dommaraju) made history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto to become the youngest ever challenger to the world title.

He will face reigning world champion, China’s Ding Liren, for the crown in November.

Gukesh accumulated nine out of a possible 14 points after drawing his 14th and final round game against Hikaru Nakamura on Sunday.

The Chennai-native became only the second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, to win the Candidates. Five-time world champion Anand’s triumph came in 2014.

“Congratulations to @DGukesh for becoming the youngest challenger. The @WacaChess family is so proud of what you have done . I’m personally very proud of how you played and handled tough situations. Enjoy the moment,” Anand posted on ‘X’.

With three Grandmasters in the fray for the top spot, Gukesh needed to pick up at least a draw to keep his chances alive. He then needed the contest Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana to end in a draw. Had it not gone this route, the tournament would have gone into a tie-breaker. Luckily for the Indian, though, things panned out perfectly.

Gukesh has been making waves for a while now. At 12, he had become the third youngster to earn the Grandmaster title. Last year, he won a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

How much prize money did D Gukesh win for Candidates Chess tournament?

By winning the 2024 Candidates Chess tournament, D Gukesh pocketed €48,000 (~ Rs 42.6 lakhs). He further accumulated €3,500 for every half-point scored. Since he finished with nine points, that is another €63,000 (~ Rs 56 lakhs). In total, therefore, he won €111,000 (~ Rs 98 lakhs).

His nearest competitors, Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi, Caruana, all earned €79,500 (~ Rs 70.67 lakhs). R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi, who posted seven and six points to finish fifth and sixth respectively, bagged €49,000 (~ Rs 43.55 lakhs) and €42,000 (~ Rs 37.32 lakhs).