Gukesh Dommaraju (born 29 May 2006) is an Indian chess grandmaster and the reigning World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, Gukesh is the youngest undisputed world champion, the youngest player to have surpassed a FIDE rating of 2750, doing so at the age of 17, and the third-youngest to have surpassed 2700 Elo at the age of 16. He earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 12 and is the third-youngest grandmaster in chess history.

Gukesh started playing chess at the age of 7. He won the under-12 title at the World Youth Chess Championship in 2018, and multiple gold medals at the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship. He became an International Master in March 2017. On 15 January 2019, at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, he became the second-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game, after Sergey Karjakin. He was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the men's team competition.

Gukesh won the team bronze and the individual gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in 2022. In the September 2023 rating list, Gukesh became the top-rated Indian player, ending Viswanathan Anand's 37-year record. In the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024, he won both team and individual gold medals. In 2024, he became the youngest winner of the Candidates Tournament and successfully challenged Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship, becoming the 18th and youngest undisputed world champion, at the age of 18 years and 195 days.

Gukesh (Tamil: குகேஷ் தொம்மராஜு, romanized: Kukēṣ Tommarāju; Telugu: దొమ్మరాజు గుకేష్, romanized: Dommarāju Gukēṣ) was born on 29 May 2006 in Chennai into a Telugu family. His mother, Padmakumari, is a microbiologist, and his father, Rajinikanth, is an ENT surgeon who moved to Chennai to pursue his medical career. Gukesh studied at the Velammal Vidyalaya School in Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai.

Gukesh's family hails from the village of Chenchuraju Kandriga, near Satyavedu in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. Gukesh's father later settled in Chennai to pursue a medical career, where he married Padmakumari.

Gukesh learned to play chess at the age of seven, and eventually began structured one-hour sessions three times a week. He dropped out of school after Class IV (in elementary school) to focus on his chess career. In 2017, his father quit his job to travel with Gukesh to various tournaments; Gukesh was sponsored by his parents' friends at this time, support about which he has often spoken since. His extraordinary talent was recognized institutionally early on, and he became one of the many beneficiaries of the robust Indian chess ecosystem.

Gukesh won the under-9 section of the Asian School Chess Championships in 2015. He won the World Youth Chess Championship in 2018 in the under-12 category. In the 2018 Asian Youth Chess Championship, he won a record five gold medals in the under-12 events in individual rapid, blitz and classical formats, and the team rapid and blitz competitions. He completed the requirements for the title of International Master in March 2017 at the 34th Cappelle-la-Grande Open.

On 15 January 2019, Gukesh became the then second-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days, behind Sergey Karjakin. In June 2021, he won the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, Gelfand Challenge, scoring 14 out of 19 points.