The 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship match between India’s D Gukesh and China’s Ding Liren will begin on November 25 at Singapore’s Equarius Hotel in Resorts World Sentosa.
Ding, the reigning world champion, will face quite the task in defending his crown against an 18-year-old teenager, who has been at his best over the last year to earn a shot at the title.
Here’s all the essential information of chess’ ultimate match:
Dates and format:
The official opening ceremony is scheduled for November 23 and the first game is on November 25.
The match will be played to a best of 14 games and with tiebreakers if needed. Gukesh and Ding will earn a point for each win and 0.5 each for a draw, with a score of 7.5 enough to win the championship. If the score is equal after 14 games, tiebreakers with faster time controls will be used to determine the winner,
Schedule:
November 23, Saturday: Opening ceremony.
November 24, Sunday: Rest day
November 25, Monday: Game 1
November 26, Tuesday: Game 2
November 27, Wednesday: Game 3
November 28, Thursday: Rest day
November 29, Friday: Game 4
November 30, Saturday: Game 5
December 1, Sunday: Game 6
December 2, Monday: Rest day
December 3, Tuesday: Game 7
December 4, Wednesday: Game 8
December 5, Thursday: Game 9
December 6, Friday: Rest day
December 7, Saturday: Game 10
December 8, Sunday: Game 11
December 9, Monday: Game 12
December 10, Tuesday: Rest day
December 11, Wednesday: Game 13
December 12, Thursday: Game 14
December 13, Friday: Tiebreaks (if necessary)
December 14, Saturday: Closing ceremony
All the games will start at 2.30 PM IST.
Head-to-Head:
So far, Gukesh and Ding have played each other thrice in classical time controls, out of which Ding has won twice with black while their last match at the Sinquefield Cup was a draw.
How did Ding and Gukesh qualify for the match?
As reigning world champion, Ding Liren automatically gets the chance to defend his title in the following edition of the World Chess Championships. Ding beat Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in a marathon match back in 2023 to become the world champion for the first time.
Gukesh made it to the world championship as challenger after winning the Candidates tournament in Toronto earlier this year. He was the youngest-ever to win the Candidates Tournament and thereby also became the youngest challenger in the World Championship.
The Indian teenager made it to the Candidates on the basis of his points in the FIDE circuit. In fact, Fabiano Caruana had won the 2023 FIDE Circuit, but had already made it to the Candidates through the Chess World Cup where he finished third. Thus, Gukesh who was second in the Circuit, qualified for the Candidates.
Form:
Gukesh, who’s currently ranked world no. 5, is the overwhelming favourite against Liren. Over the last year, Gukesh made big improvements to his ratings with consistent performances as well as making an impact in the big tournaments. In August last year, he overtook Viswanathan Anand in the live ratings, becoming the first player to do it since Pravin Thipsay in July 1986 and later broke into the top 10 rankings.
From an ELO rating in the 2600s in 2022, Gukesh made a significant jump to his current rating of 2783, with notable performances in the FIDE Circuit and the Candidates Tournament, where he overcame opponents like Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi and later at the Chess Olympiad, where he picked up an individual gold as well as helping his team to win to finish on top. Playing the board one, he scored 9 out 10 points and achieved the highest rating performance of 3056 in the open event.
Meanwhile, since becoming the world champion, Ding has struggled to replicate his form while dealing with mental health issues. He didn’t feature in any tournaments for months and once he made his return, he failed to replicate his best. When he became the world champion, his rating was 2788 but currently it’s down to 2728 and he has fallen to 23 in the world rankings.
Nevertheless, a world championship match can be daunting and Ding has been there and done it. He overcame many tough battles in the run up to the previous championship match and also during the tussle against Nepomniachtchi which he won in tie breaks. This is the player who had already broken the 2800-mark in ratings during his best spell.
Time Control Rules:
The time control for each classical game is 120 minutes per player for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game. There will be a 30-second increment per move starting with move 41.
If the scores are equal after 14 games, rapid followed by blitz matches will have to be played with faster time controls.
Prize money
The total prize money is USD 2.5 million. Each player will receive USD 200,000 for each game they win. The remaining money will be split equally between the two players.
If the match is decided on a tie-break, the winner will receive USD 1,300,000, and the runner-up receives USD 1,200,000.
What they said:
“I know my performances haven’t been up to my usual high standards. But at the end of the day, a match is a match. It’s between two players. When one player starts to hit his stride, how the opponent reacts depends on their experience and how they handle the situation at the moment,” Ding told FIDE.
Meanwhile Gukesh said, “It’s always a privilege to play for India at such a high level, and I enjoy the experience. I think how I handle pressure is mostly through experience. I’ve played in many high-pressure situations, though not the World Championship, of course. But I’m looking forward to the new experience.”
Broadcast details
The championship match will be live streamed on FIDE’s Youtube and Twitch channels. And you can follow each game on ESPN India’s live blog.