India is expected to bid for the World Chess Championship match between Ding Liren and D Gukesh, tentatively scheduled for November this year. Gukesh earned the chance to take on reigning world champion Ding Liren after being the youngest Candidates winner in Toronto last weekend. Early Thursday morning, the 17-year-old arrived back in Chennai, his hometown, to a tumultuous welcome. By three in the morning, students from his school, Velammal Vidyalaya, arrived at the Chennai International Airport dressed in their uniforms, carrying checkerboard-like banners and masks depicting Gukesh. Amidst the chaos and crowd, Gukesh saw his mother Padma and rushed to hug her and kiss his cheeks.
For the first time in eleven years, the competition will be hosted by India thanks to an Indian challenger. The 2013 Chennai match between Magnus Carlsen and reigning champion Viswanathan Anand ended in a loss for the Indian player. HT was informed by a senior Fide official that it has yet to receive formal bids. A number of nations have shown interest, including India. We will choose the host country by June.
According to PTI, All India Chess Federation secretary Dev Patel said they will talk to FIDE on Friday about it. They claim that Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are the states that are vying to host the game. As the 2024-2027 office bearers were only elected last month, the current AICF regime is relatively young. AICF officials gave Gukesh a video call shortly after his victory and expressed their support for the match.
A top AICF official told HT, "We are still assessing the modalities and technicalities involved." Chess is booming in India right now and we are looking at the best options to host the competition. As we are a new general body, we have never held a Fide event before. There are opinions about the pressure a player can have when he attends such a match at home. Therefore, our goal is to thoroughly understand the entire scenario. We will be talking to interested parties to discuss the approximate budget, potential location and any other funding that sponsors and the government may need. No official decision has been taken in this area. We want to make every effort in Gukesh's favor to win the global championship."
