Grandmaster D Gukesh is an upcoming 18-year-old chess prodigy from India. The newcomer will face Chinese world champion Ding Liren in the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship in a highly awaited match. Gukesh may possibly create history by becoming the youngest world chess champion. He is presently the youngest competitor for the crown. The 32-year-old Ding Liren is shielding his title as the first Chinese player to win the world championship. Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore will host the championship, which gets started on November 25. Continue reading to learn more about the schedule for the FIDE World Chess Championship Final 2024 and other important information.
Chess Championship 2024
At Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa’s Equarius Hotel, the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship has formally kicked off. D Gukesh, a budding chess prodigy from India, will contend against China’s incumbent champion Ding Liren. This will be during the November 25 – December 13, 2024 event.
Up to 14 classical games will be played during the chess championship, with each match lasting up to four hours. The winner is decided by a point system, with one point awarded for a victory, 0.5 for a tie, and the championship going to the first player to reach 7.5 points. Faster-paced tiebreakers, such as rapid and blitz games, will determine the winner if the match is deadlocked after all 14 games. For the very first time, two Asian players will be entering the tournament in chess history. The event’s historical significance highlights chess’s rising popularity throughout Asia.
Rules of the Game
There will be a maximum of 14 games in the traditional match format of the FIDE World Chess Championship. The winner will be the first player to score 7.5 points. Players must follow strict time limits. The first 40 moves take 120 minutes. The next 20 moves take 60 minutes. The rest of the game is 15 minutes, with each move after move 61 increasing by 30 seconds. A tough match is set by the inability to agree on draws prior to the 41st move.
If the match ends in a tie, the following tie-breaks will decide the winner: A 25+10 time-controlled four-game series will determine the winner of a Rapid Playoff. Two 5+3 games, with extra series, if essential, make up the Blitz Playoff. Individual 3+2 games will be held until a winner is determined. This is known as Sudden Death.
Also read: World Chess Championship D Gukesh vs Ding Liren Match Overview & Updates
Rewards for the Chess Championship
The entire prize fund for the championship accounts for $2.5 million, or around Rs 20.8 crore. In traditional games, each triumph brings in $200,000, or roughly Rs 1.67 crore. The winner receives $1.3 million (Rs 10.83 crore) if the match is tied, while the runner-up usually receives $1.2 million.
Streaming Details
Fans can watch the event live on Chess.com’s social media pages or on FIDE’s Twitch and YouTube accounts. Indian TV broadcasters would not broadcast the matches.
Who is D Gukesh?
The 18-year-old Gukesh has been playing really well, and Ding hasn’t won a classical match in more than 300 days. Until Ding, 32, musters some courage and makes Gukesh’s journey into history challenging, the matchup currently looks unbalanced. The title match, which also happens to be the highest reward in chess, will feature an Indian for the first time besides Viswanathan Anand. At the age of 17, Gukesh became the youngest candidate to win, earning him the honor to compete in this year’s match.
Gukesh would become the youngest undeniable champion in history if he triumphed. With an individual gold, Gokul has achieved Board 1. In Game 1, Gukesh will start through White and may wish to strike first. Gukesh is the “calculation monster.” Ding is a sharp, steady player. In a recent interview with HT, Gukesh’s Polish coach Grzegorz Gajewski concisely stated that Gukesh has leveled up and would be difficult to defeat now, one has to both outplay and out-calculate him.
Vishnu Prasanna, Gukesh’s coach, also stated that his position has changed from that of a coach to that of a mentor, emphasizing that their relationship is now less formal and training-focused. Gukesh has hired famous mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton to help him improve his mental game for the impending fight, taking note of his opponent Liren’s mental dilemmas after he became champion last year.
FIDE World Chess Championship final 2024 Full Schedule
The full schedule for the FIDA World Chess Championship final 2024 is mentioned below.
| Date | Time | Event |
| 20 November | N/A | Arrivals |
| 23 November | TBD | Media Day, Opening Ceremony & Technical Meeting |
| 24 November | N/A | Free Day |
| 25 November | 14:30 | Round 1 |
| 26 November | 14:30 | Round 2 |
| 27 November | 14:30 | Round 3 |
| 28 November | N/A | Free Day |
| 29 November | 14:30 | Round 4 |
| 30 November | 14:30 | Round 5 |
| 1 December | 14:30 | Round 6 |
| 2 December | N/A | Free Day |
| 3 December | 14:30 | Round 7 |
| 4 December | 14:30 | Round 8 |
| 5 December | 14:30 | Round 9 |
| 6 December | N/A | Free Day |
| 7 December | 14:30 | Round 10 |
| 8 December | 14:30 | Round 11 |
| 9 December | 14:30 | Round 12 |
| 10 December | N/A | Free Day |
| 11 December | 14:30 | Round 13 |
| 12 December | 14:30 | Round 14 |
| 13 December | 14:30 | Tie-break (if needed) |
| 14 December | TBD | Closing Ceremony |
| 15 December | N/A | Departures |
Rounds 7 through 14 will continue till December 12 following a day off. The concluding ceremony will be held on December 14 after tie-breaks, if necessary, will occur on December 13.
Considered the highest level of competitive chess, the World Chess Championship has continuously attracted international interest. In addition to bringing together elite athletes, this year’s final highlights the strategic skill and mental toughness needed to succeed in the sport. As Gukesh and Ding Liren vie for the crown, the chess world awaits the result. Fans can recreate the moves and boards. They may then watch the games live and share in the championship spirit.
