World chess champion Ding Liren (left) will face India's Gukesh Dommaraju in Singapore for the world championship from Nov 25 to Dec 13. - PHOTOS: FIDE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): It will be a super few weeks of chess in Singapore as the country stages the World Chess Championship from Nov 25 to Dec 13 at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).
China’s defending champion Ding Liren will face India’s challenger Gukesh Dommaraju in the best-of-14-games main event.
Each player will earn US$200,000 (S$268,500) for each game he wins.
The event, which has tech giant Google as the title sponsor, has a total prize purse of US$2.5 million, with the winner bagging US$1.3 million if the match goes to tiebreaks.
Ding’s mental state ahead of his upcoming clash with the youngest-ever challenger has drawn significant interest within the chess community, with many experts tipping Gukesh to win.
The reigning champion, who opened up on his mental struggles in September, told ChessBase: “At the end of the day, a match is a match. It’s between two players.
“When one player starts to hit his stride, how the opponent reacts depends on their experience and how they handle the situation at the moment.”
The pair have met on three occasions, with the 32-year-old Chinese grandmaster beating Gukesh twice (Tata Steel Masters 2023 and 2024) and drawing once (2024 Sinquefield Cup).
Ahead of their titanic battle, Gukesh, 18, said via the International Chess Federation: “In general, I don’t believe in predictions and who are the favourites. I just think whoever shows up every day as the best will win the game eventually.
“I’m just focusing on the process, and I try to be at my best every day and play a good game. I just want to enjoy the experience.”
There will be a host of side events for attendees, such as fan zones with several top grandmasters, multi-board simultaneous exhibitions and masterclasses.
Top grandmasters, such as former women’s world champions Xie Jun and Hou Yifan, along with five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand and Asia’s first-ever grandmaster Eugenio Torre, will also be in town for the event.
Chess influencers such as Nemo Zhou, whose online handle is akaNemsko, and YouTuber Eric Rosen will also be mingling in the fan zones.
This will only be the second time in the championship’s 138-year history that it is held in South-east Asia.
Baguio, in the Philippines, was the first in 1978.
Singapore Chess Federation (SCF) chief executive Kevin Goh said: “It will be a vibrant, almost market-like place with a myriad of activities going on for the chess enthusiast.
“From the World Championship playing hall itself, where it is expected to be quiet and tense, to the fan zone, where you will have daily celebrities interacting with fans, there will be something fun and interesting for everyone.
“We are excited with the programme that we have developed and believe that many chess fans will share the same enthusiasm we have.
“Ticket sales have gone really well and we expect more to be sold. We can expect at least 250 chess fans visiting the event each day on average.”
There will also be two tournaments that will run alongside the world championship – the Singapore International Open from Nov 29 to Dec 5 (at the RWS Convention Centre) and the Nov 24-28 National Age Group Championships (Our Tampines Hub).
More star power will be sprinkled on the calendar as world No.1 Magnus Carlsen and second-ranked Fabiano Caruana will also be facing off in Singapore during the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour launch event on Nov 21 and 22.
Tickets for the World Chess Championship are available at https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/chess1124. Prices start from S$64 for a day pass and S$380 for a VIP pass. - The Straits Times/ANN
