Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren and his Indian counterpart Dommaraju Gukesh will lock horns in Singapore for the coveted World Chess Championship. The city-state won the rights to host the important game, beating Indian cities Chennai and the national capital, New Delhi, on July 1.
The World Chess Championship game will take place between November 20 and December 15, 2024. The 31-year-old Chinese and the 18-year-old phenom will square off for bragging rights.
In April this year, Gukesh scripted history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament to become youngest ever challenger to the world title. He won it after drawing his final-round game against American Hikaru Nakamura.
As per the International Chess Federation (FIDE), four possible venues in Singapore is currently under considerations. The final announcement will be made later.
Singapore also became the second Southeast Asian country, after the Philippines, to host the prestigious encounter. Baguio was the host city in 1978.
While announcing Singapore’s successful bid on Monday, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky lauded the country. “Chess is not just a popular game and sport; it is often seen as the epitome of the human mind’s ability to think strategically, to plan, and to foresee,” he said, as quoted by CNA. “Singapore embodies these same qualities.”
Singapore Chess Federation (SCF) said they are the ideal location for the match, with a proven record of successful hosting of sporting events in the past.
Kevin Goh, CEO of SCF, said, “We also have a growing chess community in the country, evidenced by increasing participation numbers in scholastic events, newcomers to the game, as well as improvements in sporting results in the last few years.” The country’s bid was jointly done by SCF, Sport Singapore and the Singapore Tourism Board.
Meanwhile, the sport of chess is growing in the country. In May this year, Singapore got its 5th Grandmaster, as Indian-origin teen Siddharth Jagadeesh won in Sharjah Masters.
Prior to that, 8-year-old Ashwath Kaushik, an Indian-origin boy from Singapore, scripted history by becoming the youngest player to beat a Grandmaster in a game of chess. Kaushik’s victim was 37-year-old Grandmaster Jacek Stopa of Poland. The record was established at the Burgdorfer Stadthaus-Open, held on February 16-18, 2024, in Switzerland.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected To India)
