World Chess Championship 2024 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
World Chess Championship 2024

Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore
25 November – 12 December 2024
	Defending champion	Challenger
	Ding Liren	Gukesh Dommaraju
	6½ Scores 7½ Game 1 1 ← 42 moves 0 Game 2 ½ 23 move draw ½ Game 3 0 37 moves → 1 Game 4 ½ 42 move draw ½ Game 5 ½ 40 move draw ½ Game 6 ½ 46 move draw ½ Game 7 ½ 72 move draw ½ Game 8 ½ 51 move draw ½ Game 9 ½ 54 move draw ½ Game 10 ½ 36 move draw ½ Game 11 0 29 moves → 1 Game 12 1 ← 39 moves 0 Game 13 ½ 69 move draw ½ Game 14 0 58 moves → 1
	Born 24 October 1992 32 years old	Born 29 May 2006 18 years old
	Winner of the World Chess Championship 2023	Winner of the Candidates Tournament 2024
	Rating: 2728 (World No. 23)	Rating: 2783 (World No. 5)
← 2023 2026 →

The World Chess Championship 2024, officially known as the World Chess Championship 2024 presented by Google, was a chess match between the reigning world champion Ding Liren and the challenger Gukesh Dommaraju to determine the World Chess Champion. The match took place between 25 November and 12 December 2024, with Singapore being the host country for the match. It was played to a best of 14 games, with tiebreaks if required.

Ding Liren won the 2023 World Chess Championship by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi, after reigning champion Magnus Carlsen declined to defend his title. Gukesh won the eight-player Candidates Tournament held in April 2024 to win the right to challenge Ding for the World Championship. Before the start of the match, Gukesh was ranked fifth in the FIDE rankings with an Elo rating of 2783 while Ding was ranked 23rd with an Elo rating of 2728.

The match was won by Gukesh 7½–6½ after 14 games, the youngest to win a Chess World Championship. Ding won two games, Gukesh won three. The 14th and final game ended with Gukesh winning the game and match with the black pieces after Ding resigned following a blunder that allowed Gukesh to simplify the position to a king and pawn versus king endgame. The win made Gukesh the youngest undisputed world champion.

Defending champion

Ding Liren became World Chess Champion in April 2023, after defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 championship match. After acquiring the title, Ding did not appear in professional tournaments for months, an absence which Ding later revealed in interviews to be due to fatigue and depression. Ding withdrew from tournaments including the 2023 Asian Games and did not enter the first four events of the 2024 Grand Chess Tour. He returned to classical chess in January 2024 at the 2024 Tata Steel Chess Tournament and announced that he still intended to defend his world champion title.

Ding's return to chess introduced a rough stretch of form, with a set of poor performances at the 2024 Tata Steel Masters, Norway Chess, and the Grenke Chess Classic. Ding's rating fell from 2788 (at the time of the World Chess Championship 2023) to 2728, while his world ranking fell from world number 3 to world number 23. His poor results led several chess grandmasters to express concern about Ding's overall ability to defend his world championship title, notably Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. However, while acknowledging Ding's weakened physical condition during the 2024 Sinquefield Cup, Anish Giri highlighted Ding's improved chess level during the first half of the tournament. Ding's opponent in the 2023 match, Ian Nepomniachtchi, also remarked on Caruana's podcast that Ding would be a clear favorite if he was in prime form.

Reflecting on his poor form in an interview during the 45th Chess Olympiad, Ding admitted that Gukesh is "playing extremely well in this tournament. Maybe he is a favourite in the World Championship Match. He also has a higher rating than me". Ding also remarked "[I have] dropped a lot since last year, but I will fight my best to try to overcome the rating difference".

Candidates Tournament

The challenger, Gukesh Dommaraju, qualified by winning the Candidates Tournament 2024 in Toronto, Canada, which was an eight-player double round-robin tournament. It took place from April 3 to April 22, 2024. Fabiano Caruana won the 2023 FIDE Circuit, but had already qualified for the Candidates through the Chess World Cup 2023. Hence, Gukesh qualified for the Candidates via the FIDE Circuit, after overtaking Anish Giri with a win at the Chennai Grand Masters tournament.

The eight players who competed were:

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(April 2024)
2023 World Championship runner-up	Ian Nepomniachtchi	33	2758	7
The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2023	Magnus Carlsen (winner, withdrew)	33	2830	1
	R Praggnanandhaa (runner-up)	18	2747	14
	Fabiano Caruana (third place)	31	2803	2
	Nijat Abasov (fourth place, replacement for Carlsen)	28	2632	114
The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023	Vidit Gujrathi (winner)	29	2727	25
	Hikaru Nakamura (runner-up)	36	2789	3
Highest place in the 2023 FIDE Circuit not already qualified	Gukesh Dommaraju	17	2743	16
Highest rating for January 2024 not already qualified	Alireza Firouzja	20	2760	6

Results

Candidates Tournament 2024
Gukesh Dommaraju, the winner of the tournament, advanced to the World Chess Championship 2024 match.
Venue	The Great Hall
Location	Toronto, Canada
Dates	3–22 April 2024
Competitors	8 from 5 nations
Winning score	9 points of 14
Champion
Gukesh Dommaraju
← 2022 2026 →

The 2024 Candidates Tournament was an eight-player chess tournament, held to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2024. The tournament took place at The Great Hall in Toronto, Canada, from April 3–22, 2024. The event was held alongside the Women's Candidates Tournament. The event was won by Gukesh Dommaraju, which made him the youngest ever winner of a Candidates Tournament, and the youngest ever World Chess Championship challenger.

As with every Candidates tournament since 2013, it was a double round-robin tournament. The winner of the tournament earned the right to play the World Chess Championship 2024 against the current World Chess Champion Ding Liren.

Qualification

The qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament were:

Qualification method	Player	Age	Rating	World ranking
		(April 2024)
2023 World Championship runner-up	Ian Nepomniachtchi	33	2758	7
The top three finishers in the Chess World Cup 2023	Magnus Carlsen (winner, withdrew)	33	2830	1
	R Praggnanandhaa (runner-up)	18	2747	14
	Fabiano Caruana (third place)	31	2803	2
	Nijat Abasov (fourth place, replacement for Carlsen)	28	2632	114
The top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023	Vidit Gujrathi (winner)	29	2727	25
	Hikaru Nakamura (runner-up)	36	2789	3
Highest place in the 2023 FIDE Circuit not already qualified	Gukesh Dommaraju	17	2743	16
Highest rating for January 2024 not already qualified	Alireza Firouzja	20	2760	6

Withdrawal of Magnus Carlsen

Despite qualifying for the Candidates Tournament by winning the 2023 FIDE World Cup, former World Champion Magnus Carlsen decided not to compete in Toronto. He had previously stated his disinclination after reaching the semifinals of the World Cup, stating that "under the current format there is absolutely no chance" he will play the Candidates. In January 2024, after official confirmation of the candidates list, Magnus Carlsen formally confirmed his decision to decline FIDE's invitation to play in the Candidates Tournament by stating "I would say the main reason is that I don't enjoy it. It's as simple as that." As a result, Nijat Abasov, who finished fourth at the World Cup, qualified to the Candidates Tournament 2024 as Carlsen's replacement.

FIDE and Grand Chess Tour agreement

In April 2022, before announcing all the qualification methods, FIDE announced that the top two finishers in the 2023 Grand Chess Tour would qualify to the 2024 Candidates Tournament. FIDE promised that more details would follow, but later announced qualification paths excluding the Grand Chess Tour, without providing an explanation for the change. However, the Grand Chess Tour tournaments counted toward the qualifying path of the FIDE Circuit.

FIDE Rating qualifier

The highest rated player in the January 2024 rating list who has not yet qualified for the Candidates or World Championship, and has participated in at least four FIDE Circuit classical events, qualified for the Candidates.

The rating qualifier turned out to be hotly contested. After a poor showing in the 2023 Sinquefield Cup, rating spot front-runner Alireza Firouzja lost nearly thirteen rating points, putting him behind Wesley So in the live ratings. In an attempt to surpass So, the Chartres Chess Club organized three two-game matches between Firouzja and grandmasters Alexandre Dgebuadze (52 years old, rated 2439), Andrei Shchekachev (51 years old, rated 2506), and Sergey Fedorchuk (42 years old, rated 2546). These matches, held in Chartres, France, were collectively referred to as "Alireza Firouzja's Race to Candidates". Firouzja needed to win all six games (or win the first five and not play the sixth) to overtake So in the live ratings. He indeed won the first five games after some controversy (such as Shchekachev resigning in a position that turned out to be equal in game 3), but decided to play the sixth game anyway. In what was effectively a must-win game, Firouzja overpushed and landed in a bad endgame, but with both players in time trouble, Fedorchuk accepted Firouzja's draw offer. The 5.5/6 result still left Firouzja behind So in the live rating list.

The last-minute nature of the event as well as the hand-selecting of opponents drew criticism, including from So, who revealed he turned down similar opportunities because he disagreed with the morality of such events. Shortly after these matches were announced, FIDE affirmed that it had the right to not rate any specific event, and the United States Chess Federation called on FIDE to not rate Firouzja's games. FIDE's response drew criticism from many, including Ian Nepomniachtchi, who pointed out that Ding Liren had also played last-minute games to qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2022, to no reaction from FIDE.

On December 25, FIDE announced new rules, effective immediately, requiring events with at least one player rated over 2700 (or at least one woman player rated over 2500) to be registered at least one month in advance; however, the rule would not be applied retroactively for Alireza Firouzja's Race to Candidates tournament. This requirement could be waived with the approval of the FIDE president or QC Chairman. That same day, Alireza Firouzja's matches (as well as another match in Chartres in which Firouzja did not play) were removed from FIDE's website.

Having fallen short, Firouzja withdrew from the World Rapid and Blitz championship to participate in the Open de Rouen tournament, which was a minor Swiss-system tournament with a top prize of €700. Firouzja won all 7 games, including a win against former world championship challenger Gata Kamsky. This gained Firouzja enough rating to surpass So on the January 2024 rating list even if the Chartres event was not rated, which turned out to be the case. Firouzja was officially confirmed as the rating qualifier on the January ratings list.

Top ten on the January 2024 rating list

Ranking	Player	Rating	Candidates	FIDE Circuit	Eligible for rating qualification
1	Magnus Carlsen	2830	Qualified	4	No
2	Fabiano Caruana	2804	Qualified	4+	No
3	Hikaru Nakamura	2788	Qualified	4+	No
4	Ding Liren	2780	World Champion	2	No
5	Ian Nepomniachtchi	2769	Qualified	4+	No
6	Alireza Firouzja	2759	Qualified	4+	Yes
7	Wesley So	2757	-	4+	Yes
8	Leinier Domínguez	2752	-	4	Yes
9	Sergey Karjakin	2750	-	0	No
10	Anish Giri	2749	-	4+	Yes

     Qualified to Candidates by rating      Qualified to Candidates by another path      Not qualified to Candidates (already World Champion)      Not qualified to Candidates

Organization

The tournament was an eight-player, double round-robin tournament, meaning there were 14 rounds with each player facing each of the others twice: once with the white pieces and once with the black pieces. The tournament winner would qualify to play Ding Liren for the World Championship in 2024.

Players from the same federation were required to play each other in the first rounds of each half to discourage collusion. The players affected in the 2024 Candidates are R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi and Gukesh Dommaraju from India, and Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura from the United States. The former three all faced one another in rounds 1–3 and 8–10, while the latter two faced each other in rounds 1 and 8.

FIDE announced pairings for the tournament in March 2024. The arbitration team for the event were Chief Arbiter Aris Marghetis (CAN) and Deputy Chief arbiters Carolina Solis Munoz (CRC) and Andrew Howie (SCO). Anna Burtasova served as the Press Officer.

Regulations

The time control was 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 41. Players got 1 point for a win, ½ point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.

Tiebreaks for the first place would have been addressed as follows:

• If two players were tied, they would play two rapid chess games at 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. If a three- to six-way tie occurred, a single round-robin would be played. If seven or eight players are tied, a single round-robin would be played with a time limit of 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move.
• If any players were tied for first after the rapid chess games, they would play two blitz chess games at 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. In the case of more than two players being tied, a single round-robin would be played.
• If any players were still tied for first after these blitz chess games, the remaining players would play a knock-out blitz tournament at the same time control. In each mini-match of the proposed knock-out tournament, the first player to win a game would win the mini-match.

Ties for places other than first were broken by, in order: (1) Sonneborn–Berger score; (2) total number of wins; (3) head-to-head score among tied players; (4) drawing of lots.

The prize money is €48,000 for first place, €36,000 for second place, and €24,000 for third place (with players on the same number of points sharing prize money, irrespective of tie-breaks), plus €3,500 per half-point for every player, for a total prize pool of €500,000.

Schedule

All rounds are scheduled to start at 14:30 EDT local time (18:30 UTC).

Results

Points by round

This table shows the total number of wins minus the total number of losses each player has after each round. '=' indicates the player has won and lost the same number of games after that round. Green backgrounds indicate the player(s) with the highest score after each round. Red backgrounds indicate player(s) who could no longer win the tournament after each round.

Rank	Player	Rounds
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1	Gukesh Dommaraju (IND)	=	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+4
2	Hikaru Nakamura (USA)	=	−1	−1	−1	=	=	=	+1	=	+1	+2	+3	+3	+3
3	Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE)	=	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+3	+3	+3
4	Fabiano Caruana (USA)	=	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	=	=	+1	+1	+2	+3	+3
5	R Praggnanandhaa (IND)	=	−1	=	=	=	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	=	=	−1	=
6	Vidit Gujrathi (IND)	=	+1	=	−1	−1	=	=	−1	=	=	−1	−2	−2	−2
7	Alireza Firouzja (FRA)	=	−1	−1	−1	−2	−3	−2	−2	−2	−3	−2	−3	−4	−4
8	Nijat Abasov (AZE)	=	−1	−1	−1	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−5	−6	−6	−7

Summary

A poll before the tournament of Chessbase readers found Caruana a substantial favorite. Former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen echoed this opinion, albeit also thinking that Nakamura should likewise be counted among the favorites, with Nepomniachtchi and Firouzja also in contention.

Round one resulted in all draws, albeit with some fighting chess, before the tournament burst into life in round 2. Vidit used his preparation to surprise and ultimately defeat Nakamura, while Praggnanandhaa outprepared Gukesh, but overestimated his position and ended up losing. Caruana outplayed Abasov in a positional domination, and Nepomniachtchi–Firouzja was a back-and-forth affair that Nepomniachtchi eventually won. In round 3, Abasov and Nakamura agreed to an uneventful draw, while Gukesh was able to put Nepomniachtchi under pressure, but could not convert. Praggnanandhaa, on the other hand, launched the highly adventurous Ruy Lopez Jaenisch Gambit Deferred, catching Vidit by surprise. He managed to navigate the resulting complex and double-edged position better than Vidit, earning the only win in the round. Round 4 saw more fighting chess, but only one decisive game: Nepomniachtchi defeated Vidit in a Berlin endgame, propelling him into the sole lead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

In round 5, Praggnanandhaa and Vidit got strong positions against Nepomniachtchi and Caruana respectively, to come very close to winning, but both Nepomniachtchi and Caruana managed to survive. Meanwhile, both Abasov and Firouzja made crucial mistakes in the endgame to lose. The results meant Gukesh joined Nepomniachtchi in the lead. Both Abasov and Firouzja lost again in round 6, albeit in contrasting fashions. Praggnanandhaa outplayed Abasov after a tense middlegame, while Firouzja played 13...Qxf2? (diagram) to quickly land in a losing position. GM Daniel King suggested afterwards that Firouzja might be "on tilt". In round 7, Firouzja once again landed in a difficult position, but this time found the right moves to pose problems, and Gukesh made a mistake under time pressure to give Firouzja the win. The other games ended drawn, which meant Nepomniachtchi finished the first half as the sole leader.

The second half of the tournament began with a major shakeup in the standings. Tail-ender Abasov held a draw with Black against Nepomniachtchi, while Gukesh came back from his heartbreaking 7th round loss by defeating Vidit Gujrathi in spectacular fashion. This meant Gukesh joined Nepomniachtchi in first place. Meanwhile, Nakamura beat Caruana to join Praggnanandhaa in third place. In round 9, Vidit defeated Nakamura while the other games ended drawn. Among them, the tensest was Firouzja–Nepomniachtchi. Firouzja came close to winning, but Nepomniachtchi defended tenaciously to draw. Nakamura bounced back immediately in the next round with a win against Abasov after getting into a bad position, while Caruana also won against Firouzja. The top-of-the-table clash in round 10 between Gukesh and Nepomniachtchi ended in a draw, leaving the two still in the lead, with Caruana, Nakamura and Praggnanandhaa half a point behind. In round 11, Nakamura defeated Praggnanandhaa, while Nepomniachtchi defeated Vidit in a complicated game where both sides had chances. Gukesh–Caruana ended in a draw, leaving Nepomniachtchi once again in sole lead.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

In round 12, Nepomniachtchi drew his game, Nakamura won his third game in a row, and Gukesh and Caruana also won. This put Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura and Gukesh in a three-way tie for first, Caruana half a point behind, and no other player able to win the tournament. A critical round 13 saw Gukesh defeat Firouzja and Caruana defeat Praggnanandhaa, while Nepomniachtchi and Nakamura drew. This gave Gukesh a half-point lead over his three rivals going into the final round. The final round saw Nakamura as white against Gukesh and Caruana white against Nepomniachtchi, with Nakamura, Caruana and Nepomniachtchi all needing to win. Gukesh and Nakamura's game ended in a fighting draw, with neither player ever having a decisive advantage. The game between Caruana and Nepomniachtchi was far more dramatic. Caruana played some exemplary chess to gain a winning advantage, but Nepomniachtchi defended stubbornly, constantly posing problems. A very complicated endgame resulted in which the engine evaluation oscillated back and forth, but Caruana made the last inaccuracy, and Nepomniachtchi successfully held the draw.

With the draw, Gukesh won the tournament and the right to play for the title against Ding Liren later in 2024.

• 

  Abasov vs. Nepomniachtchi (Round 1)

• 

  Nakamura vs. Caruana (Round 1)

• 

  Firouzja vs. Praggnanandhaa (Round 1)

• 

  Firouzja vs. Gukesh (Round 7)

• 

  Caruana vs. Praggnanandhaa (Round 7)

• 

  Nakamura vs. Nepomniachtchi (Round 7)

• 

  Abasov vs. Vidit (Round 7)

Results by round

See also

• Women's Candidates Tournament 2024

Championship match

Organisation

Bids were originally to be presented to FIDE no later than 31 May 2024. Early interest was expressed in June 2023 by Argentina, India, and Singapore.

In June 2024, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky announced that FIDE had received three bids to host the championship, two from India (Chennai and New Delhi), and one from Singapore. In July 2024, FIDE announced that the match would take place in Singapore from 20 November to 15 December 2024, with four venues being considered. Ultimately, the Singapore Chess Federation revealed that the Equarius Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa was chosen as the venue to host the world championship match.

The prize fund allocated for the event is US$2.5 million. Each player receives US$200,000 for each game won (including forfeits), and the remainder of the money is split equally. If there is a tiebreak, however, the winner will receive US$1.3 million and the loser will receive US$1.2 million. That would also have been the distribution if the final score was 7½–6½ with 13 decisive games or 8–6 with 14 decisive games.

The first move of each classical game was ceremonially performed by guests invited by the organisers:

Match regulations

The regulations and format of the world championship are slightly different from the 2023 edition.

The time control for each game in the classical portion of the match is 120 minutes per side for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting with move 41.

The match will be best of 14 games; a score of at least 7½ would win the world championship. If the score is equal after 14 games, tiebreak games with faster time controls will be played:

• A match consisting of 4 rapid games with 15 minutes per side and a 10-second increment starting with move 1 would be played. If a player scores 2½ points or more, he would win the championship.
• If the score is still equal, a mini-match of two rapid games would be played, with 10 minutes per side and a 5-second increment starting with move 1. If a player scored 1½ points or more, he would win the championship.
• If the score is equal after the rapid portion, a mini-match of two blitz games would be played, with a time control of 3 minutes per side and a 2-second increment starting with move 1. If a player scored 1½ points or more, he would win the championship. A drawing of lots would take place before each mini-match to decide which player plays with the white pieces.
• If the blitz mini-match is tied, a single blitz game with a time control of 3 minutes per side and a 2-second increment starting with move 1 would be played, and the winner would win the championship. A drawing of lots would decide which player plays with the white pieces. If this game was drawn, another blitz game with reversed colours would be played with the same time control, and the winner would win the championship. This process is repeated until either player wins a game.

Players are not allowed to agree to a draw before Black's 40th move. A draw claim before then is only permitted if a threefold repetition or stalemate has occurred.

Previous head-to-head record

Ding (left) and Gukesh (right) during the 2023 Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Prior to the match, Ding and Gukesh had played against each other three times at classical time controls. Ding won two games with the black pieces during the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, while their most recent pre-championship game during the 2024 Sinquefield Cup resulted in a draw.

A poll of various grandmasters before the match began found Gukesh a substantial favorite, mainly because of Ding's poor form over the past couple of months. In an October 2024 interview, Gukesh commented that he generally did not "believe in predictions and who are the favorites", and stated that he tried to "be at [his] best every day and play a good game".

Seconds

Before the match, Gukesh specified that he is working with Grzegorz Gajewski, who was also his second during the 2024 Candidates Tournament. After the match, Gukesh reveiled further seconds that supported him before and during the match, including Vincent Keymer. Ding Liren is working with Richárd Rapport, who was his main second in the 2023 championship, as well as Ni Hua.

Schedule

The games begin at 17:00 local time (SGT), which is 14:30 (IST) & 09:00 UTC.

Colours were drawn at the opening ceremony. Gukesh received the white pieces for the first game. Colours alternate thereafter, with no switching at the halfway point.

If the match had ended in fewer than fourteen games, then the closing ceremony may have been moved forward.

Results

World Chess Championship 2024

	Rating	Match games														Points
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Gukesh Dommaraju (IND)	2783	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	0	½	1	7½
Ding Liren (CHN)	2728	1	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	1	½	0	6½

Classical games

Game 1: Gukesh–Ding, 0–1

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The first game of the match, a 42-move win for Ding, was played on 25 November. Ding surprised observers by playing the French Defense, which has traditionally been considered a "solid" opening but some lines are in fact quite combative. Ding had previously played it in game 7 of the World Chess Championship 2023 against Ian Nepomniachtchi. He then spent 28 minutes thinking on move seven while in a still relatively well-known position. Meanwhile, Gukesh was still in his preparation, blitzing out the attacking novelty 10.g4!? Ding's 10...Qa5, however, took Gukesh out of his preparation as Xie Jun believed "they haven't played this line before. They analyzed, they prepared, and they probably knew the plans, but this is the first time they gave it on the board. It's a very complicated position – the way they played is a little bit out of control."

Down on the clock in a complicated middlegame, Ding quickly spotted 18...Nb2! with queenside play, putting pressure on both Gukesh's position and his clock. With Ding's pieces infiltrating his position, Gukesh faltered with 22.Qe1? and his position crumbled. Ding made a slight inaccuracy with 27...fxe6?! (correct was 27...Bxe6!), giving Gukesh an opportunity to salvage the game, but although Gukesh spotted the idea, he executed incorrectly. Ding made no further errors and converted his advantage to a win, his first in classical chess since he defeated Max Warmerdam in January during the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024. This also marked the first time in 14 years that a win was registered in Game 1, after Veselin Topalov defeated Viswanathan Anand with the white pieces during the World Chess Championship 2010.

At the post-game press conference, Ding was elated with his performance, stating, "Well, of course I feel very good—I haven't won a single classical game for a long time and I managed to do that!" Gukesh on the other hand remarked, "It was just a tactical oversight by me. It can happen, it's a long match, and about my opponent's form, I think I expected nothing else. I expected the best version of him, and we have a long match ahead, so it's only more exciting now!"

Game 2: Ding–Gukesh, ½–½

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The second game of the match, a 23-move draw, was played on 26 November. After Ding opted for the traditional Giuoco Pianissimo, commentator David Howell expressed surprise at the choice of 1.e4, noting that "He rarely employs the king's pawn openings until the last few months, when he has been experimenting a bit with it – he doesn't seem like a natural e4 player to me, but here we are!" Ding chose a quiet line, but offered Gukesh complicated play with 10.dxc4, inviting 10...Bb4!?. Aware that he was facing preparation, Gukesh declined. In a balanced position, Ding had a slight opportunity to play on with 20.h4, creating less space for his opponent, but the position would have remained even. Ding instead chose to repeat moves, resulting in a draw.

At the post-game press conference, Gukesh stated, "This early, with Black, was nowhere close to a must-win. I was never going to do anything stupid." Ding made comments to the same effect, remarking that "I was feeling a little up and down. I was slightly worse in the middle game. I thought I had misplayed."

Game 3: Gukesh–Ding, 1–0

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The third game of the match, a 37-move win for Gukesh, was played on 27 November. Gukesh opted for a Queen's Gambit Declined with an early cxd5. In the opening, Ding intentionally got his bishop trapped with 10...Bc2. The game followed a previous game between Vladimir Kramnik and Arjun Erigaisi played in the World Rapid Team Championship 2023 until Ding's 13...Nbd7! After 14.Nd2 threatening to win Black's bishop with Rc1, Ding played 14...Rg8!, threatening ...g5 which counterattacks White's bishop and creates an escape for Black's. Gukesh responded by playing g5 himself, and both players believed the position to be good for White, but computer analysis suggests otherwise. Ding's 18...Rh5 was a mistake, leading to a sequence where Ding loses a bishop for two pawns; it was preferable to retreat the bishop immediately with 18...Bf5, or fight for the advantage with 18...Be7!. Gukesh re-trapped the bishop with 19.e4! and went on to precisely convert his advantage. Ding lost on time while executing his final move 37...Rh5, but his position was lost anyway (38.Bxf5! wins).

Game 4: Ding–Gukesh, ½–½

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The fourth game of the match, a 42-move draw, was played on 29 November. Ding played an unconventional system beginning with 1.Nf3, resembling a Queen's Indian Defense with colours reversed, which surprised Gukesh but was not particularly aggressive. At the post-game press conference, Ding revealed that he intended to "play it safe", but that he took some risk with 11.b4. Gukesh's 13...Ne5!? took Ding by surprise since the knight can be easily kicked out with f4, but Gukesh believed that, "[f4] looked like a move which would turn out to be risky in the long run". Gukesh's 15...b6 was Ding's last chance to push for a win with 16.Ba6, but after he played 16.Nf3, the game was headed for a draw. Pieces were traded and the two ended up in a queen-and-rook endgame where White has a four-on-three majority on the kingside, and Black has a passed pawn on the c-file. Despite the result being all-but-inevitable, Gukesh continued to play out the game and pose questions for Ding, notably with 30...f5!?. Shortly thereafter, however, the two made a draw by threefold repetition.

Game 5: Gukesh–Ding, ½–½

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The fifth game of the match, a 40-move draw, was played on 30 November. For the second time in the match, Ding played a French Defense. This time, however, Gukesh responded by exchanging the pawns on d5, and quickly traded off the queens and one pair of rooks. After Ding's 15...Nh5, Gukesh's dark-squared bishop had nowhere to escape, prompting Gukesh to play 17.g4!? after giving a check, which grandmaster Judit Polgár believed to be too risky. Nonetheless, the game seemed to be headed towards a draw, until Gukesh quickly played 23.dxe5? (a mistake, because after 23...Nd3 24.Bxd3 cxd3, Black has a passed pawn on the d-file two moves away from queening). In the post-game press conference, Gukesh revealed, "Once I saw Nd3 I realized I just blundered with dxe5. I didn't know how bad it was, really, but of course I should have played Rxe5. It would have been a draw anyway, but dxe5 Nd3 I kind of just hallucinated." Ding, however, was apparently unaware that he had a considerable advantage. As a result, he did not press very hard, and after 29...Bc6 (which Ding called "basically a draw offer"), Gukesh was able to stop the pawn and the players agreed to a draw.

Game 6: Ding–Gukesh, ½–½

Ding–Gukesh, game 6

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 17.Nc4. Here, Gukesh intended to exchange the knight on c4 by playing the slightly inaccurate move 17...Be6!?. Whist Peter Leko believed that 17...Qg2 was a better move, it was one that he believed would have "simply not cross your mind". Alternatively, Anish Giri felt that Gukesh forgot in his preparation to play the move 17...Qf3!, and that by moving the bishop he put himself in a worse position. Despite Gukesh acknowledging this, he felt the move was hard to convert with White. a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 33...Qf3. Here, Ding should avoid the exchange of queens and play 34.Qg5!, leaving his heavy pieces better placed than Gukesh's. Instead, he played 34.Kc2?!, allowing Gukesh to trade queens and get a passed pawn, which Ding called, "not such a good move" in the post-game press conference.

The sixth game of the match, a 46-move draw, was played on 1 December. Ding played the London System, an opening he won with in the sixth game of his previous match against Ian Nepomniachtchi. In the post-game press conference, Ding reflected on his opening choice: "This time, I tried to push for an advantage in the opening, and this London. Last time, also in game six, I won a beautiful game in the London, so this time I wanted to repeat that success." The opening was considered a success for Ding, and Gukesh made an early inaccuracy with 17...Be6 (see first diagram). Gukesh commented, "I never really felt in danger because I thought once I take on c4... maybe I'm slightly worse, but it should be really hard to convert it with White because you can't really push the queenside pawns that easily and you always have some play on his king." Ding had an early time advantage in the opening, but lost it after his 42-minute think before playing 21.Qxc6.

After Gukesh's 21...Qxe5, the players repeated the position twice, and Gukesh had the option to make a draw by threefold repetition by playing 26...Qe7!. Instead, he played 26...Qh4!?, declining the draw and accepting a slightly worse position. In the post-game press conference, Ding commented, "Qh4 came as a total surprise because I think his queen is not so well placed on the kingside; it's better placed on the queenside", while Gukesh explained his decision, "I thought I might be slightly worse, I was not even sure fully if I'm slightly worse, but I thought it's more likely, but I thought with the files open in front of his king I always have counterplay, and I saw no reason to take a repetition right now." Ding responded well to Gukesh's draw rejection, and Peter Leko believed his decision might have been "a huge mistake" and called the move "psychological games". Gukesh denied such, stating, "I just like playing chess! It was more just the position than it was psychological. I just thought there was a lot of play left in the position, and I did not really see too much danger for me." Later in the game, Ding accumulated a slight advantage, which reached its peak after Gukesh offered a queen trade with 33...Qf3 (see second diagram), but Ding responded incorrectly, and the game went on to end with a draw by repetition.

Game 7: Gukesh–Ding, ½–½

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The seventh game of the match, a 72-move draw, was played on 3 December. It turned out to be a thrilling effort by both players. Out of a Neo-Grünfeld Defence, Gukesh played the new move 7.Re1, which introduced a completely new idea to theory. Ding reacted poorly with 9...c5?!, and Gukesh gained both a strong position and a significant time advantage. Under serious pressure, Ding went for the queen maneuver Qa6xa2, which GM Anish Giri assessed as the desperation of a player who knows they are losing, but wants to at least grab some material before losing. Although Gukesh was clearly winning, Ding's active queen posed problems, and after 30.Qf4?! Ding was able to steer the game to a worse-but-tenable endgame. After the strong defensive move 34...Ng6! it seemed like Ding would save the position, but one move before the time control and with seven seconds left on the clock, Ding played 40...Ke5?, again giving Gukesh a winning position that was however difficult to win. After the human move 44.Ke1?! Ding found the deep resource 44...f6. Gukesh's 45.h4?! was a subtle inaccuracy, and following 46...f4! Ding had equalized the position. Gukesh still had practical winning chances, but Ding defended successfully to draw.

Many commentators later praised this game, with several calling it the best game of the match.

Game 8: Ding–Gukesh, ½–½

Ding–Gukesh, game 8

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 24...cxb5. Ding's 25.Bb2?, intending Bd4 then Ra1, sacrifices the a2-pawn for tactical compensation. However, Ding had missed that Black does not have to move the queen (25...Bxa2 26.Bd4 Qb8 27.Ra1! is fine for White). Instead, 26...Ndc5!, removing the d7-knight from potential Bh3 tactics, is winning. a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 30...Rc7. White has a decisive advantage according to the computer, but the winning move – 31.Ne1!! (blocking the back rank such that a potential ...Rxc1 does not come with check) intending d4 to win material – was not easy to find. Kibitzing GM Matthew Sadler said that without engine assistance, he would have thought Black is obviously winning.

The eighth game of the match, a 51-move draw, was played on 4 December. Gukesh responded well to Ding's 1.c4, and put Ding in unfamiliar territory with 7...f6!?. The position was objectively equal, but Peter Leko believed Ding to be in "not a pleasant situation", facing an imbalanced position Gukesh was well-prepared for. Ding appeared to have made it out of the opening, albeit with a time disadvantage. That changed with 22.Rb1?, which allowed Gukesh to gain an advantage with 22...b5 23.cxb5 Qb6+ 24.Kf1 cxb5. Ding's position went from bad to worse with 25.Bb2?, allowing Gukesh to get two connected passed pawns on the queenside with 25...Bxa2. Gukesh quickly lost most of his advantage with 26...Nac5?! (26...Ndc5! was best). Gukesh explained that he thought Ndc5 "looked weird", and that he missed Ding's defensive resource 28.Qe1! (only evaluating the position after 28.Qd2?, which loses for White). Gukesh explained, "It was actually very impressive that my opponent found this Qe1 so quickly—so yes, great defense by him!" Qe1 not only allowed White to save the game, but gave White the chance to put pressure on Black. After Gukesh's 28...Be6?, Ding himself got an advantage, and eventually found himself up a rook for a knight and a pawn. Neither player, however, was aware that White was ever winning. In the post-game press conference, Gukesh stated, "I thought probably all my advantage is gone, but I did not think it was even bad for me. Now that I see the position it's quite obvious, but during the game it was not", whereas Ding stated, "In the last world championship, also one game he was winning at some point and then suddenly I'm winning at the end. But today during the game I didn't realize I was winning at some point. I think he missed some important details that let me get back into the game. Before that he was totally outplaying me, again." Due to his misevaluation, Ding began to make a draw by repetition, which was broken by Gukesh's 41...Qa2!? despite White having a better position. Gukesh reflected on this decision, "I didn't think I was in much danger. I always thought with his weak king and my strong pawn on b3 I should have play. I thought even I might have some chances, but okay, it was just a misjudgment of the position." The game continued with little challenge for either player, and they agreed to a draw after reaching an opposite-colored bishops endgame.

Game 9: Gukesh–Ding, ½–½

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The ninth game of the match, a 54-move draw, was played on 5 December. As in game 3, Gukesh opened with 1.d4 and Ding responded with 1...Nf6 also seen in game 3. Rather than continuing with 2.Nf3 as seen in game four, Gukesh opted for the more popular 2.c4 and the game developed in a Catalan Opening after 2...e6 and 3.g3. Ding chose a line similar to the Retreat Variation of the Bogo-Indian Defense with 3...Bb4+ and 4...Be7, also employing the Closed Catalan structure with 7...c6 and 8...Nbd7. Gukesh maintained a slight advantage and pleasant position out of the opening until 20.Qb5?! which allowed Ding to equalize and trade off pieces into a draw.

Game 10: Ding–Gukesh, ½–½

The tenth game of the match, a 36-move draw, was played on 7 December. An uneventful game, Ding achieved nothing out of the opening. When he further agreed to trade off pieces it became clear that he was happy with a draw. The result was never in question, with commentators opining that if not for the rule that prohibited draw offers before move 40, the players could have agreed to a draw long before the game actually ended.

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
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2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 11: Gukesh–Ding, 1–0

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

The eleventh game of the match, a 29-move win for Gukesh, was played on 8 December. Gukesh confused his preparation to fall into a poor position, but Ding underestimated his chances and failed to capitalize. A highly complicated game resulted in which both players committed several inaccuracies. The position was still complicated when Ding blundered his knight with 28...Qc8??, ending the game abruptly and allowing Gukesh to take the lead for the first time.

Game 12: Ding–Gukesh, 1–0

Ding–Gukesh, game 12

a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 17.Qd2. Having played 16...Nd7 to target Ding's backward pawn on d3 with 17...Nc5, Gukesh instead played 17...Bg6?! which allowed Ding to gain a sizable advantage with 18.d4!. Gukesh realized too late that his intended 18...exd4? loses to 19.Bf4! with significant challenges for Black. a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h Position after 22.Ne2. In a bad position, Gukesh has one last chance to seek counterplay with 22...Na5 threatening ...Nb3 or taking on c4. Kibitzing GM Magnus Carlsen opined that Black absolutely has to go for it even if it objectively does not save the game, since the game continuation 22...Bg5 23.Nf4 Bxf4 24.Bxf4 (hitting the c7-pawn) is equivalent to resigning.

The twelfth game of the match, a 39-move win for Ding, was played on 9 December. In one of his best-ever games, Ding played with computer-like accuracy to "roll over" (Hikaru Nakamura) his opponent. Opting for the English opening, the game followed a previous game played in 2019 between Ding's seconds Ni Hua and Richárd Rapport up until move 7. With Bryan Armen Graham of The Guardian describing Gukesh being "confounded in a state of middlegame zugzwang", he made some hesitant moves – 13...Rb8 apparently intended ...Nd4, which was not played; 16...Nd7 apparently intended ...Nc5, which was also not played – and Ding's advantage grew into a large one after Gukesh's 17th move, with chess engine Leela Chess Zero highlighting Ding's winning chances to have increased from 38.2% to 51.9%.

Despite Ding missing 26.Na7 to win the exchange (26.d5 was also winning), Gukesh struggled on until move 39 as Ding finished in style with the rook sacrifice 39.Rxg7+, forcing Gukesh to resign due to the coming pawn promotion with mate soon to follow. Both former world champion Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura were critical of Gukesh's opening choice after the game, since Ding's opening choice was fairly predictable, yet Ding still got a clear advantage and was able to play for a win with no risk of losing.

Game 13: Gukesh–Ding, ½–½

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Game 13 was a hard-fought draw in 69 moves, played on 11 December 2024. Gukesh surprised Ding out of the opening with 7.a3 and 8.Be3, putting Ding under pressure. With 17.Qf3!? (which kibitzing GM Magnus Carlsen called a move he would only consider if he were very inspired or in very bad shape) he offered the d4-pawn, but Ding believed his opponent and played 17...Qe8?!, a significant concession since it can no longer go to its best square (f6). Gukesh grew his advantage with 22.Bf4!, infiltrating on the weak d6- and c7-squares, but 25.Bxe7?! was a little hasty. This move forces an advantageous position, but 25.Rfe1 would have been even better. Gukesh briefly had a winning advantage when Ding misstepped with 30...Qf7? (it was necessary to trade queen for two rooks with 30...Qxe1!), but his 31.Ne4? allowed Black key defensive resources that Gukesh had missed (exchanging rooks first with 31.Rxe8+! Qxe8 32.Ne4 would have forced the win). Despite having only 8 minutes for 10 more moves, Ding found the only moves 31...Rf8! and 32...Rc7! to draw the game.

Game 14: Ding–Gukesh, 0–1

Game 14, a 58-move win for Gukesh, was played on 12 December 2024. The win resulted in Gukesh being crowned the world's youngest Chess World Champion. Since the scores were tied at 6½–6½ entering this game, a win for either player would have meant winning the match; a draw would have led to a series of tie-break games to be played on the following day. The match was ending in a sluggish draw with a stable endgame before Ding made a surprise blunder, offering a rook trade (55.Rf2??) at a time when his bishop was stuck on a corner square, which allowed Gukesh to liquidate to a forced winning 2 pawns vs. 1 pawn endgame. Anand in an online stream concluded that it would be a draw 99.73% of the time with 0.27% reserved for uncertainty in life.

The win made Gukesh the youngest undisputed World Chess Champion, with only Ruslan Ponomariov, the winner of the 2002 World Chess Championship, a knock-out style tournament during the period where there was a title split in the chess world, being younger.