World Chess Championship final 2024: Schedule, format, prize money, players

All the details about the biggest two weeks in the global chess calendar as a young Indian grandmaster takes on the Chinese world champion.

The attention of the world’s chess aficionados will turn towards Singapore from Monday, as the city-state gears up to host the International Chess Federation’s (FIDE) World Championship final 2024.

It will be an all-Asian affair as Chessmaster Ding Liren, the reigning world champion from China, takes on one of the most promising  young grandmasters, Gukesh Dommaraju of India.

Here’s everything you need to know about the final:

When is the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 final?

The final will take place from November 25 to December 13, 2024.

The four designated rest days will be on November 28, December 2, December 6 and December 10.

December 13 has been allocated for tie-breaks should the need arise.

Where is the World Chess Championship 2024 final?

It will be held at Resorts World Sentosa on Sentosa Island, Singapore.

What are the rules and format of the final?

• The final, called a single match, will comprise up to 14 classical games.
• The first player to score 7.5 points will become the world champion.
• The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the rest of the game. There’s a 30-second increment per move starting on move 61.
• Players are not allowed to draw by agreement before move 41.

What happens if the final goes into a tie-break?

• The tie-break will begin with a four-game rapid playoff with a 25+10 time control.
• It will be followed by a two-game playoff with a 5+3 time control and another two-game playoff with a 5+3 time control.
• Three-plus-two individual games will be played until a winner is determined.

Who is Ding Liren?

Chinese grandmaster Liren is the reigning world champion, a title he earned in 2023 when he defeated Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi in the World Championship final.

Liren rose to prominence in 2009 when, aged 16, he bagged his first Chinese Chess Championship as its youngest-ever winner. A year later, he broke into the top 10 FIDE chess rankings.

The 32-year-old from Wenzhou – a southeastern city with a history of producing chess champions – reigned the Chinese chess world from 2009 to 2016 and entered his first Candidates Tournament in 2017. Then he was part of the Chinese team at the Chess World Cup in the same year.

He qualified for the 2023 World Championship final as the runner-up of the Candidates Tournament behind grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, who abdicated his place as the winner.

By beating Nepomniachtchi in the 2023, final Liren became the first Classical FIDE World Champion from China.

Who is Gukesh Dommaraju?

Born in Chennai, capital of India’s southern Tamil Nadu state known as the home of chess in the country, Gukesh Dommaraju learned the sport at the age of seven.

Simply known as Gukesh D, the 18-year-old is the second-youngest grandmaster in history and the youngest-ever Candidates Tournament winner. Aged 17 in April, he won the tournament after drawing against Hikaru Nakamura at the tournament in Toronto, Canada.

The win helped him set up the title showdown against Liren and received widespread support from the Indian diaspora, a large number of whom turned up at the tournament venue.

Should Gukesh go one step further and defeat Liren, he would become the youngest classical world champion ever – moving past the Russian great Gary Kasparov, who won the title aged 22.

What do Ding and Gukesh have to say?

The world championship is being compared by some in India to the classic showdown between the American Bobby Fischer and Soviet great Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War in 1972.

Ties between nuclear-armed neighbours China and India are frequently tense.

Ding has been impressed by his teenage opponent’s maturity. “He plays like a seasoned player despite his young age,” said Ding, who since becoming world champion last year has suffered depression and took a nine-month break from competitive chess.

Most pundits and players believe Gukesh will prevail against the 32-year-old Ding, who has not won a game in the classical format since January.

The modest and bearded Gukesh is having none of it. “I don’t believe in predictions and who are the favourites,” he told reporters before the title match, where there is a total prize fund of $2.5 million.

“I’m just focusing on the process and I try to just be at my best every day and play a good game. I just want to enjoy the experience.”

What’s the prize money for World Chess Championship 2024?

The winner will be crowned the FIDE world champion 2024 and walk away with $2.5m.

Who are the past winners of the World Chess Championship?

The winners, under the tournament’s current arrangement as the FIDE World Chess Championship, are:

• Vladimir Kramnik (Russia): 2006
• Viswanathan Anand (India): 2007-2012
• Magnus Carlsen (Norway): 2013-21
• Ding Liren (China): 2023