The World Chess Championship match between Gukesh and Ding Liren to be held in November-December this 12 months shall be fought in Singapore, FIDE introduced on Monday.
The World Championship match, to be held between November 20 and December 15, 2024, will see the 18-year-old challenger from India, Gukesh, battle with reigning world champion Ding Liren for an opportunity to change into the youngest world champion ever in historical past.
“Singapore’s bid was submitted on Might 31, 2024, and the inspection of the venues came about on June 11 and 12. 4 potential venues are being thought-about for the Match, and the ultimate determination on the precise location shall be introduced in the end,” a press release from FIDE learn. The match may even witness a prize cash of two.5 million USD.
Gukesh had made historical past by turning into the youngest participant ever — on the age of 17 — to win the eight-player Candidates match to win his proper to problem China’s Ding.
“We’re delighted that for the primary time within the historical past of FIDE, a match for the World Championship will happen in Singapore. Not solely is Singapore some of the iconic international vacationer and enterprise hubs, however it is usually a thriving chess middle with nice ambitions and expertise,” FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich mentioned.
New Delhi, Chennai and Singapore had been in a three-city race to host probably the most prestigious occasion in chess.
The 15-member FIDE Council makes use of a number of elements to resolve the host metropolis of the the World Championship, together with “neutrality”.
Whereas this may have favoured Singapore, contemplating Gukesh shall be a house favorite on the different two cities, Chennai or New Delhi, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky had talked about in an interview with The Indian Specific that there are different elements that would assist override the ‘neutrality’ component.
“If the bids (from Singapore and one of many different two cities) are the identical, it provides a critical benefit to Singapore. If one or two different bids are a lot, a lot larger in all different senses (when it comes to assured income that FIDE would get from broadcast and industrial rights) then it compensates for neutrality. We take a look at a large number of things, amongst these which can be necessary is distribution of rights, neutrality, the extent of venue, broadcast and different related issues that may enable the match to not solely be necessary by itself, but additionally enable the chess world to leverage on it to advertise the sport when it comes to chess followers that may begin following the sport through the world championship,” he had mentioned.