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D Gukesh’s historic achievement at the Candidates Tournament has spurred a renewed wave of interest in chess. read more
 "India submit bid to host World Chess Championship between D Gukesh, Ding Liren")
D Gukesh became only the second Indian after Viswanathan Anand to win the prestigious Candidates Chess Tournament. Image: X/ChessBaseIndia
India has officially expressed their interest in hosting the much-anticipated World Chess Championship clash between D Gukesh and defending champion Ding Liren of China in November-December this year.
Gukesh, 17, became the youngest challenger to the world title by winning the Candidates Tournament last month. He will face Liren between 20 November and 15 December in Chennai if the country gets the hosting rights.
The bid has been officially submitted by the Tamil Nadu government.
”We have received the bid from India,” Chess’ global governing body FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky told news agency PTI.
FIDE haven’t received any other bids but the deadline to enter the race is 31 May. It is learnt that Singapore is also interested but has not yet officially submitted the bid documents.
”As of now no other country has bid for it but the deadline is till end of this week. Post that we will have a FIDE Council meeting next week. And after that due procedure will be followed and we will decide about the hosting rights,” Sutovsky added.
If India wins the bid, All India Chess Federation (AICF) will have to shell out close to Rs 71 crore.
The criteria outlined by FIDE for a prospective bidder for the 2024 edition is a budget of $8.5 million (Rs 71 crore approx) and a facilitation fee of $1.1 million (Rs 9 crore) for the global body.
The duration of the tournament is 25 days and approval of regulations will be completed by 1 July.
The total prize money awarded by FIDE would be around $2.5 million (Rs 20 crore plus) after the fund was increased from the $2 million (Rs 17 crore) in 2023.
Gukesh’s historic achievement at the Candidates has spurred a renewed wave of interest in chess.
The Chennai-based teen, who has been mentored by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, bettered Russian legend Garry Kasparov’s 40-year-old record to become the youngest Candidates champion.
The Russian great was 20 when he qualified in 1984 to clash with compatriot Anatoly Karpov.
India has hosted the prestigious showpiece event in 2000 and 2013.
In the 2000 edition, Viswanathan Anand claimed the first of his five world titles by winning the event played in a tournament format with 100 players. Anand defeated Alexei Shirov in the final.
In 2013, Anand lost to Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen.
(with inputs from PTI)
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