India, Aug. 28 -- Since his World Championship victory in December last year, D Gukesh's popularity has seen a huge surge. He defeated Ding Liren in Singapore to clinch the title and also became the youngest-ever World Champion in history.

He was also present in Chennai 12 years ago, when Magnus Carlsen defeated Viswanathan Anand for his first World C'ship title in 2013.

Speaking in a podcast recently, Gukesh gave some insight into his chess journey and also revealed the influence of the Anand vs Carlsen showdown.

"My parents didn't know chess could be taken as a career like that. I started it like a hobby. My first teacher in school suggested to my parents that maybe I should start taking it a bit more seriously, and I can start playi...