Amul Honors Youngest World Chess Champion ‘Gukesh D’

The celebrated dairy co-operative Amul brought out a special advertisement in celebration of the historic achievement by Indian grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju as the youngest-ever World Chess Champion. Topical featuring the iconic Amul Girl and Gukesh, celebrates his victory over China’s Ding Liren in the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship held in Singapore.

The tagline, “Loved across the board,” is a smart play on the chessboard’s 8×8 grid, which underlines Gukesh’s all-around popularity and his expertise at the game. Below the Amul logo, “India’s Grandmaska” is another creative addition as the mascot hands Gukesh a cake with a number candle on it-to mark him as the 18th World Chess Champion.

The young man had to beat the defending champion, Ding Liren, to win the title with 7.5-6.5 in a hard-fought Game 14. The match looked to be neck and neck as Ding tried to push the tie-breaker until the last game, when Gukesh’s crucial mistake in the decisive game sent his victory through.

The Andhra Pradesh wunderkind, now 18, broke Garry Kasparov’s long-standing record of becoming world champion at 22 in 1985, surpassing it by four years. His achievement adds a new milestone to India’s growing chess legacy.

This is not Gukesh’s first appearance in an Amul Topical. When, last January of 2019, Amul awarded him the Grandmaster, he was congratulated on an ad, playing one game of chess versus the Amul Girl.

Google did not miss this scale of success. It marked Gukesh’s win with a dedicated Doodle that featured dancing chess pieces in its inimitable colors. It also allows for searching “Gukesh Dommaraju” or “D Gukesh”, which opens up a special function—a party popper button-like feature that rains confetti and chess pieces on the screen, a testament to the worldwide acknowledgement of this achievement.