Scores were tied after the first three games of the FIDE 2024 World Championship Tournament between challenger Gukesh Dommaraju, 18, a rising chess star from India and champion Ding Liren of China.
Liren won the first game of the 14-game encounter. The second game ended in a draw, but Dommaraju won the third encounter. Liren is the current world champion and is ranked No. 23 in the world rankings while Dommaraju is at No. 5. The win for Dommaraju marked a psychological boost for him. It signalled to the chess world he is Ding’s equal.
Google is sponsoring the match for US$2.5 million in Singapore. However, there are some issues are surrounding the match. Commenters have called it “a joke”.
A World Championship Chess Match is one in which the reigning world champion and his challenger are highly regarded based on ELO ratings and steady performances. Garry Kasparov, ex-world champion who reigned over the chess world for 20 years, said in an interview last month at the St. Louis Chess Club: “I don’t treat it as a world championship match. For me, a world championship match was always a match for the title of the best player in the world.” Hikaru Nakamura, ranked No. 3 worldwide, said in an interview in October , “I don’t see it being a close match. I think all the signs point to a clear and dominating Gukesh victory”. It is difficult for me to see the match as a representation for the title. Norway’s Magnus Carlsen is unquestionably the best player in the world based on his ELO rating (2831) and steady superior performances. He was world champion from 2013 to 2023 but chose to step down in juxtaposition to defending his title. He never lost his title. Actually, Carlsen holds the highest ELO ratings for classical chess, 2831, rapid, 2825, and blitz, 2893.
Liren won the world championship chess title in April 2023 when he defeated Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi. Since that time his play has deteriorated, moving from world No. 3 to world No. 23 at the beginning of this match. Dommaraju, on the other hand, won the rigorous 2024 Candidates tournament in Toronto and qualified to face Ding for the chess crown.
