Who, in the year 2024, became the youngest player ever to win the FIDE Candidates Tournament?
- (a)Viswanathan Anand
- (b)Garry Kasparov
- (c)D. Gukesh
- (d)Ding Liren
Correct — C, D. Gukesh. In April 2024, 17-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju won the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Toronto, becoming the youngest player in history to win a Candidates — breaking Garry Kasparov's 40-year-old record (Kasparov won it in 1984 aged 20). The win made Gukesh the youngest-ever challenger for the World Chess Championship.
- (a)Viswanathan Anand — A five-time World Chess Champion from an earlier generation; he did not compete in or win the 2024 Candidates Tournament.
- (b)Garry Kasparov — The previous youngest-ever Candidates winner (1984, aged 20) — his record is exactly what Gukesh broke in 2024, not something Kasparov did that year.
- (d)Ding Liren — The reigning World Chess Champion in 2024 (title won in 2023); Gukesh challenged and defeated him for the world title in December 2024, but Ding did not win the 2024 Candidates.
The FIDE Candidates Tournament is the top-level qualifying event whose winner earns the right to challenge the reigning World Chess Champion. In April 2024 (Toronto), D. Gukesh won the Candidates at age 17, becoming its youngest-ever champion.
The distractors are all real, well-known chess names from different eras/roles — the exam is testing whether you can pin the SPECIFIC 2024 achievement to Gukesh rather than any famous chess name that comes to mind.
- D. Gukesh (Gukesh Dommaraju) won the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament (Toronto) aged 17 — the youngest-ever winner.
- He broke Garry Kasparov's 1984 record (Kasparov was 20 when he won the Candidates).
- Winning the Candidates earns the right to challenge the reigning World Chess Champion.
- Ding Liren was the reigning World Champion in 2024; Gukesh later defeated him in December 2024 to become World Champion himself.
Gukesh's 2024 Candidates win broke a 40-year-old record and set up his eventual World Championship win over Ding Liren.
- Picking Kasparov because he too once held the 'youngest Candidates winner' record — that record is exactly what Gukesh broke
- Confusing the Candidates Tournament (qualifier) with the World Championship match (title decider) — Gukesh won the Candidates in April 2024 and the World Championship separately in December 2024
MPPSC/UPSC test high-profile 2024 sporting 'firsts'/records — pin the exact achievement (Candidates win vs World Championship win) to the exact year.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
D. Gukesh became the youngest-ever World Chess Champion in December 2024 by defeating which player?
- (a)Ian Nepomniachtchi
- (b)Ding Liren
- (c)Magnus Carlsen
- (d)Fabiano Caruana
Answer(b) Ding Liren — the reigning champion, defeated by Gukesh in December 2024.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament earns a player the right to:
- (a)host the next Chess Olympiad
- (b)challenge the reigning World Chess Champion
- (c)become FIDE President
- (d)select the venue for the next Candidates
Answer(b) Challenge the reigning World Chess Champion.