The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced that the world championship match for classical chess between Gukesh D, an Indian teenager, and Ding Liren, the reigning champion from China, will take place in Singapore from November 20 to December 15.
Singapore was selected instead of Chennai and New Delhi in India. Gukesh qualified for the match by winning the Candidates Tournament in April. Ding, whose performance has suffered since winning the title in 2023 over Ian Nepomniachtchi, will face Gukesh. According to FIDE, Gukesh is ranked seventh in the world as of June 2024.
Gukesh broke Garry Kasparov’s forty-year record to become the first teenager to win the Candidates tournament. Kasparov congratulated Gukesh on his accomplishment. In addition, Gukesh is the second Indian competitor to win the Candidates, after Viswanathan Anand, and the youngest challenger for the World Championship.
Gukesh outperformed his mentor, Anand, in the FIDE ratings in 2023. Gukesh, who was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 2006, attained the rank of grandmaster in 2019 at the age of 12 years and 7 months. The world champion since 2013, Magnus Carlsen, gave up the crown in 2022 because he was unmotivated.
