Chess
D Gukesh to take on Ding Liren in World Championship in November-December
D Gukesh, the FIDE Candidates champion, will challenge Ding Liren in the World Championship.
D Gukesh became the first Indian since Viswanathan Anand in 2014 to win the Candidates. (Photo credit: FIDE/X)
FIDE Candidates champion D Gukesh will face off against world champion Ding Liren of China in the World Championship in November-December this year, revealed Emil Sutovsky, the CEO at FIDE, the global governing body for chess.
The venue for the World Championship has not been announced yet.
Emil's revelation came after the 17-year-old Indian grandmaster won the Candidates after holding America's Hikaru Nakamura to a draw in the 14th and final round. With Ian Nepomniachtchi also playing out a draw against Fabiano Caruana, Gukesh won.
Gukesh, competing at the prestigious eight-player Candidates for the first time, put up a brave show with his calm and composed style of play in a field with big names like Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi and Caruana.
Gukesh won nine of the maximum 14 points, while Nakamura finished with 8.5 points. He is only the second Indian player after Viswanathan Anand in 2014 to win the FIDE Candidates tournament.
Throughout his final round game against Nakamura, Gukesh was also busy following the outcome of the crazy game between Caruana and Nepomniachtchi, who was in a strong position to win the title, but a draw against the Italian-American grandmaster spoiled Nepomniachtchi's hopes.
Nepomniachtchi, the joint leader with Gukesh for most of the tournament, could have won the title had he beat Caruana in the final round. He finished with 8.5 points.
Gukesh's Candidates winning performance made him the contender to challenge world champion Ding Liren in the Championships final later this year. It also helped the Indian prodigy to surpass a record set by Kasparov four decades ago. Kasparov was 22 when he qualified in 1984 to challenge compatriot Anatoly Karpov.
