A prize fund of £2m and over half a million people watching live makes the World Chess Championship lucrative business.
The event, held this year in Singapore, got underway on November 25 – as more than 500,000 tuned in to watch reigning champion Ding Liren of China defeat 18-year-old Indian grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju after 42 moves in the first game of the event. Action is now underway all the way until December 13, as the two do battle for the most important prize in chess.
Dommaraju goes into the event as the challenger, but is the favourite amongst many pundits – with Liren having not won a classical game prior to the event starting since January after battling off-field problems. The two will do battle in a best of 14 games format, with a tie break if required, over the next three weeks at a luxurious resort in Singapore where a small number of spectators will also be glued to every move with the sport enjoying a surge in popularity in recent years.
Who is Ding Liren?
Ding Liren is a 32-year-old grandmaster, the event’s reigning champion and a huge star in his native China. He won his first Chinese Chess Championship at the age of 16, making him the youngest to ever do so, and went on to make more history in the 2017 and 2019 Chess World Cup where he became the first player in history to reach the finals twice in a row.
As well as his two team gold medals and one individual gold medal at the Chess Olympiads (plus one team gold medal at the World Team Championships), Ding held a 100-game unbeaten streak in top-level chess competition—the longest in history at the time.
However in 2023 he took a nine-month break after becoming world champion, admitting that he was struggling with his mental health and the pressure of the sport. With this year’s tournament one of his first major competitions since returning.
Who is Gukesh Dommaraju
At just 18-years-old, India’s Gukesh Dommaraju stands on the brink of history, knowing that a victory would ensure that he became the youngest classical world champion ever – breaking the record set by Russian Gary Kasparov, who won the title aged 22. He is already the second youngest grandmaster in history, and the youngest ever competitor to qualify for a shot at the overall championship.
Known in the sport as Gukesh D, he started playing chess at the age of seven and hails from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, known as the home of chess in India. He only entered the International Chess Federation’s top five rankings in October this year – and is fast becoming a star in India, with well in excess of 600,000 followers on Instagram.
What prize money is on offer?
As well as the prestige of winning the biggest prize in the sport, the winner will walk away with $2.5m – around £2m – in prize money.
How can I watch the event?
All the action will be available to watch live on the FIDE Chess Youtube channel here, with matches on every day until December 13 – aside from the designated rest days of November 28, December 2, December 6 and December 10.