Former five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand paid a fitting throwback tribute with an old photograph taken of a young Gukesh while celebrating the latter's historic victory when he defeated Ding Liren in a tense final to become the youngest World Chess Champion at just 18 years old.

Anand met Gukesh as a child and took him under his wings. As a pupil of the chess legend's Westbridge Anand Chess Academy (WACA), Gukesh swiftly rose up the ranks and garnered fame.

In a heartwarming post on his X account, Vishwanathan Anand wrote: 'The boy who would be King', recognising the immense talent of Gukesh, even as a young boy. With his win, Gukesh shattered a 38-year-old record held by Russian legend Garry Kasparov, who became World Champion at 22 in 1985.

Gukesh trumped the Chinese in the 14-game contest, winning 7.5-6.5 to become the youngest world champion in the history of the sport. The match was one for the ages, as for the majority it was headed for a draw, and a tiebreak seemed imminent. However, Ding blundered in the 55th move by moving his rook to F4, and Gukesh made no mistakes from that point to seal the title after the 58th move.

Meanwhile, after the win, Gukesh said, "I've been dreaming about this and living this moment since I was 6 or 7. Every chess player wants to live this moment. I am living my dream."

He also conceded that he would have liked to compete at a better level.

"And the pure chess part, it was not at a very high level as I would have liked it to be because it's a new experience for me. So the workload was different, the pressure was different. It's understandable that I was a bit off but I managed to strike at the critical moments, which I am happy about," said Gukesh.

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