Singapore has been selected by Fide as the neutral venue for the upcoming World Chess Championship match between Ding Liren and D Gukesh. Both Delhi and Chennai had also submitted bids for the match, with Delhi proposed by the All India Chess Federation and Chennai by the Tamil Nadu government. Despite this, Fide chose Singapore as the ideal venue for the high-stakes game.
Fide President Arkady Dvorkovich expressed his excitement about hosting the match in Singapore, highlighting its status as a global tourist and business hub, as well as a thriving chess center with great talent and ambitions. The championship will take place between November 20 and December 15, 2024, featuring a prize fund of $2.5 million. This is an exciting opportunity for both players to showcase their skills on a world stage and potentially make history in the process.
Chennai and Delhi have previously hosted world championship matches, with Chennai hosting in 2013 and the Olympiad in 2022 while Delhi hosted the first half of the World Championship in 2000. India has not had a world champion since Viswanathan Anand’s victories over ten years ago. However, there is anticipation that Gukesh, at just 18 years old, may break Garry Kasparov’s record to become the youngest-ever world champion. Gukesh made history by winning the Candidates Tournament in Toronto in April and qualifying as the youngest challenger to the world title at just 17 years old.
This upcoming event promises to be an electrifying experience for chess enthusiasts all over the world as two talented young players compete for supremacy on one of chess’s biggest stages.