D Gukesh vs Ding Liren: Indian GM favourite to win World Chess Championship, says Praggnanandhaa, Wesley

The 14-game World Championship match, between Ding Liren from China and D. Gukesh from India is slated to be played from November 25 to December 15 in Singapore.

Gukesh, at 17, was the youngest winner of the Candidates tournament in Toronto earlier this year. | Photo Credit: AP

Three-time US National Champion Wesley So and World Cup 2023 finalist R. Praggnanandhaa believe young Indian sensation, D. Gukesh is the favourite to win the World Chess Championship title against the reining titleholder China’s Ding Liren.

“I’m looking forward to it. World Championship matches are some of my favourite events to watch in any sport. One of the best was the Magnus vs Fabiano (Caruana) match in 2018.

“I watched till 3 (A.M.) in the morning. It was an explosion of ideas. It’s going to be interesting,” said World Fischer Random Champion Wesley ahead of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament in Kolkata.

“I know 99.9 per cent of the people are rooting for Gukesh because we’re in India, and I’m also rooting for Gukesh. I talked to many GMs, and they think it won’t last 14 games. We’ll see what happens,” he added.

With a peak rating of 2822, Wesley was the second-highest rated played after Magnus Carlsen in 2017. He started the tournament with a win over Vidit Gujrathi in the first round and was in the joint lead with India’s S.L. Narayanan and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov after the second round.

Gukesh’s fellow GM from Chennai, Praggnanandhhaa said, “Gukesh is definitely the favourite, considering his recent form. But the World Championship is a different tournament altogether. I’m sure Gukesh is preparing really well. We’ll see how the match goes.”

Both Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh were part of the gold medal-winning team of the Budapest Chess Olympiad where the latter claimed the individual gold on Board 1 with an astonishing rating performance of 3056 — the highest in the tournament.

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Gukesh, at 17, was the youngest winner of the Candidates tournament in Toronto earlier this year, while Ding has seen a massive slump in his form after claiming the World Championship title from Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023.

The 14-game World Championship match is slated to be played from November 25 to December 15 in Singapore with the time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remaining moves, and a 30-second increment starting from move 41.