India in chess has been shining brightly in recent times. They won first place in both the open event and the women’s team competitions. It was in the 45th Chess Olympiad winning double gold in the Men’s and Women’s category. These victories will undoubtedly be remembered as some of India’s finest sporting feats. The 2024 FIDE World Championship will begin in Singapore on November 25.
India is one of the favourites to win the competition. Some grandmasters, such as D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, and Vidit Gujrathi, are in superb form. Ahead of the competition Grand Masters Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi believe GM Gukesh Dommaraju is a strong contender to dethrone the current World Champion, GM Ding Liren. The two Indian GMs shared their candid predictions for the 2024 FIDE World Championship.
While 18-year-old D Gukesh, the youngest challenger for the uncontested championship in history, has ascended to world number five, won the FIDE Candidates Tournament, and played a vital role in India’s gold medal victory at the FIDE Chess Olympiad, Ding’s results have been dismal. The 32-year-old is now rated 23rd in the world, having gone 28 classical games without a win. That includes a difficult Olympiad. There he managed seven draws and one loss.
D Gukesh set to break chess barriers
Will D Gukesh’s bold play reignite the Chess championship? The grandmaster anticipates will not surprise chess lovers, since Ding confessed in an interview released this week that he is concerned about losing his championship “very badly.” The World Champion stated, “Clearly, I will be the underdog heading into this match. I hope I can transform into a completely different player and at least give him a fight to slow down his pace… to have some winning chances.”
Vidit said, “I think the first three games will be drawn. D Gukesh can also lose one of the games because he is a bit ambitious. That can happen. But in general, I feel once he scores his first win, he’ll just get the momentum and then keep scoring. So, plus two, plus three.” This is a huge chance for the teenager to turn the table for himself and the country.
