Guide to World Chess Championship 2024: An 18-year-old Gukesh begins his audacious bid to become the youngest ever world champion in the history of chess when he takes on Ding Liren in Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa. It’s a history that dates back to 1886.
Gukesh has made plenty of history already. He’s the youngest-ever player to play in the World Chess Championship. he was also the youngest winner of the uber-competitive Candidates tournament, which earned him a shot at the World Chess Championship.
The 2024 edition of the World Chess Championship will also see two Asians battle it out for the crown for the first time ever.
Ahead of the World Chess Championship’s first game, here’s the ultimate guide to the Gukesh vs Ding Liren battle:
How does the world chess championship work
The world chess championship is a battle between two players. One is usually the reigning champion, in this case China’s Ding Liren. The other is a challenger, in this case Gukesh, who qualifies by winning the Candidates tournament.
Last time, there were two challengers as reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen opted to forfeit his crown.
What’s the big deal about becoming a world champion in chess?
In history, since 1886, there have been only 17 world champions. Gukesh could become the 18th. If the 18-year-old does that, he will be the youngest among those 18 players to become a world champion.
Here’s the full list of the world champions in history.
USA’s Bobby Fischer (left) takes on Soviet Union’s Mikhail Tal at the Leipzig Chess Olympiad. (Photo: FIDE via X)
How does the World Chess Championship work?
The World Chess Championship is a 14-game match. The first player between Gukesh and Ding Liren to reach 7.5 points will be the winner. But in the case of both players being tied on points after 14 games, tiebreaks (matches in faster time control) will be played the next day to decide the winner.
In a game, each player will have 120 minutes for the first 40 moves. On the 41st move, they get 30 additional minutes for the rest of the game. They also start getting 30 additional seconds on their clock starting from move 41.
The case for Gukesh
Gukesh comes into the World Chess Championship as a favourite because he is in red-hot form. he recently helped the Indian chess team win the gold medal at the Chess Olympiad.
Not surprisingly, top grandmasters like from Magnus Carlsen, Garry Kasparov, Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri have already proclaimed Gukesh to have the better odds at winning the event. Ding Liren himself has admitted that he is worried about losing the world championship badly.
But Gukesh is under no delusions about the quality of chess he can expect from his opponent.
“For me it’s pretty clear who I am facing. Ding has been one of the best players in the world for over a decade. My job is pretty clear: go to every game as the best version of myself and play the best moves in position. Play good chess, play in the right spirit. If I am doing the right things then no matter what version sits in front of me — his recent form dip or whether he’s at his best doesn’t really matter to me. If I am doing the right things, I will have all the chances in the world,” said Gukesh at the pre-championship press conference.
Focus on world champion Ding Liren’s form
Ding Liren is coming into the World Chess Championship as an overwhelming underdog. He’s had a wretched run of results since becoming the 17th world champion in Astana last year.
“I reviewed my games from recent times, and I saw I played… the quality was not so good, and I can see very low. Also my fighting spirit was not so high, I made many short draws, and I also drew even in some much better positions. I don’t know exactly the reason behind it, but it’s far from my peak performance,” Ding Liren said at a recent press conference.
Ding Liren contemplates his next move during a World Chess Championship game against Ian Nepomniachtchi last year in Astana.
Gukesh vs Ding Liren head-to-head
Ding Liren can draw some comfort from the form guide, which favours him. In three classical games that the duo have faced off in, Ding has won two while the third one has been a draw. Their last clash was in January at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, where Ding won while playing with black pieces.
In terms of current rankings, Gukesh is World no 5 with a rating of 2783. Ding is World No 23 with a rating of 2728.
Who’s is in Gukesh’s corner for this fight?
Gukesh has not revealed the names of his seconds. But his long-time trainer Grzegorz Gajewski is with him. Gajewski used to Viswanathan Anand’s second back in the day and it was Anand who had suggested to Gukesh that he work with Gajewski. Gukesh said that the Polish grandmaster was the “biggest influence on my chess career in recent years besides my parents”. Gukesh has also spoken about working with renowned mind guru Paddy Upton, who has previously worked with the Indian cricket team when they won the 2011 World Cup and the Indian hockey team when they won the bronze at the recent Paris Olympics.
Who’s is in Ding Liren’s corner for this fight?
Ding Liren has revealed that Hungary’s Richard Rapport, who has also helped him at the 2023 World Chess Championship is back as a second.
Full schedule of the World Chess Championship 2024
The World Chess Championship match will be competed over nearly three weeks, with 14 match days and 4 rest days planned. Here’s the full schedule of the World Chess Championship between Gukesh and Ding Liren:
November 25 (Monday): Game 1
November 26 (Tuesday): Game 2
November 27 (Wednesday): Game 3
November 28: 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 (Wednesday): Game 14
December 13 (Thursday): Tie-breaks (IF needed)
All games start at 17:00 local time (2:30 pm IST).
What is the prize money of the World Chess Championship
The total prize fund for the World Championship match is $2.5 million. There will be specific distribution of these funds based on game outcomes. Each player will receive $2,00,000 (approximately Rs 1.68 crore) for each game they win.
The remaining prize money will be split equally between the players. If the winner is decided on a tie-break, the prize money will be divided as follows: the winner receives $13,00,000 (approximately Rs 10.9 crore), and the runner-up receives $12,00,000 (approximately Rs 10.1 crore).
How to watch the World Chess Championship live on streaming?
The World Chess Championship match will be streamed by the FIDE YouTube channel.
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
