Before leaving Singapore, new World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju fulfilled his promise to bungee jump, but in terms of danger it seemed like nothing compared to the crush that greeted him in the airport when he arrived home a hero in Chennai, India. GM Ding Liren had a much calmer homecoming back in Hangzhou, China, where those welcoming him home included newly-crowned Girls U8 World Champion Chen Zhihan.
Gukesh Bungee Jumps—A Promise Is A Promise!
At the post-match press conference Gukesh, perhaps to the dismay of his coach GM Grzegorz Gajewski, told a story about a promise they made on one of the rest days.
@DGukesh — bungee jumping is indeed happening tomorrow with him and @GajuChess!“A promise is a promise,” the new world champion told @chesscom #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/Ie5YSg37G3
— Mike Klein (@ChessMike)
And so, before leaving Singapore, there was a visit to the Skypark Sentosa and Gukesh climbed 47 meters into the air above the beach. How was he feeling? “Scared!”
But it didn’t stop him:
GM Magnus Carlsen getting thrown in a swimming pool in Chennai after winning the world championship in 2013 no longer looks so impressive!
Gukesh Arrives In Chennai
In terms of danger, however, it feels as though bungee jumping came nowhere close to the peril of navigating the wild crowd of fans and media that greeted Gukesh on his return to India. He’d already had a hero’s welcome in Chennai after winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament, but this was another level.
pic.twitter.com/NqFJtadjxE
— The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia)
It was no easy task to leave the airport.
ChessBase India caught the whole path from emerging from arrivals to reaching the car.
He largely spoke in Tamil, but with sections in English. He repeated that this is only the beginning.
My target has always been to become the best player in the world and when I was a kid world champion is a very important step towards the dream, but still, it’s clear there are a lot of strong players and I still have a lot of improvement to do, and players like Magnus they keep motivating me to work harder. Although this is a big achievement and I know it comes at a very young age, I think it’s still a very, very long way to go, and my goal is to keep enjoying chess and to have a very long career and hopefully one day to become the best player.
My target has always been to become the best player in the world.
—Gukesh Dommaraju
For the next couple of weeks, the challenge for Gukesh may simply be to adapt to his new celebrity status.
Ding Liren Arrives In Hangzhou
Meanwhile in China, Ding had a much more modest homecoming as he arrived in Hangzhou Airport.
He was welcomed warmly, however, and one of those who met him is a champion herself. Chen Zhihan last month scored 9.5/11 to win the World Under-8 Girls Championship in Italy by a full point.
Is she a future successor to GM Ju Wenjun as women’s world champion, or to Ding as overall world champion? We’ll see, but for now it was a heartwarming moment after a difficult few weeks for Ding.
We’ll keep an eye especially on Gukesh’s appearances on his return to India, but now the attention of the chess world will switch to Oslo, Norway, where GMs Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja head the field for the Champions Chess Tour Finals, starting Tuesday, December 17.
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