FIDE World Chess Championship Singapore 2024: Official Discussion Thread

Even were Gukesh or Ding to lose 0-8, they are guaranteed a minimum of $450,000 (The winner could earn up to $2,050,000), so to have played in Tata Steel India Blitz (where the winner earned $7,500) and Tata Steel India Rapid (where the winner earned $10,000) would simply have been irrational for those reasons (needing to develop a feeling for Ding's style, and not revealing preparation). Speaking of Carlsen's supposed dominance, keep in mind that he required tiebreaks to win against both Karjakin (where he lost game 8, and won game 10 to equalize before tiebreaks), and Caruana (with 12 draws) after 6-6 point ties in classical. He only defeated Nepomniachtchi and Anand with some conviction.

Thanks for the selective pic! This tells Gukesh's comebacks are stronger than his setbacks. After consecutive 21 loses in speed chess, yet he is spirited, confident, ambitious. To show this mindset at 18 is simply incredible.

Magnus Carlsen is the best

ok

Gukesh needs to dominate from start....If it will be 6-6 after 12 rounds than I think Ding will have upper hand against Gukesh...But I am a fan of Gukesh and he can achieve his dream in his first attempt...Go Guki...

Gukesh had the highest performance rating in the entire Olympiad with a performance rating of 3056, scoring 9.0/10, while Ding struggled there a little bit with 3.5/8 and a 2664 performance rating. I hope the World Championship is not so lopsided a rating performance, and that Ding Liren can hang in for a while, but Gukesh has a very stable character and mind and we need to see how Ding recovers from his depression, which is a very significant factor, especially if he is taking mind-hindering medications for his recovery (I don't know whether he is, but they certainly affect my own play.)

Can't wait

That's a very good idea for the prize fund. The loser still gets paid well BUT..... there's an incentive to play for wins even if a player gets way behind in the match score. I wanted to see that long ago.

The amounts they spend playing these matches is a lot though. They have teams of analysts working night and day (all of whom are strong GMs so will be paid well). Then they have fitness guys, travelling chefs so they can eat familiar cuisine, coaches, managers, taxes, and 20% goes to FIDE (that alone would be $90,000 out of $450,000). So yes while the winner is well paid, turning up, not caring, losing, and expecting to make a lot doesn’t really happen.

Make no mistake, Ding will want to win this. I definitely don’t make him favourite but matchplay will be a different dynamic to tournaments and team events and he does have a WC match under his belt. Ding needs to strike early though to have a realistic chance imo.

go liren!

As the former world champion Garry Kasparov said several times, it’s not a world championship without Magnus Carlsen. Watching an 18 year old kid who is probably at the start of his prime play against a worn out chess beast is just going to be Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson but in chess.

Nice😃

I think we don't have a firm grasp of why Ding Liren (age 32) has been so far off-form, but he is still almost 2 full years younger than Magnus, 5 years younger than Nakamura, and a few months younger than Caruana, and has many good years left if he can solve the issues, which are probably due to something very different than age and hopefully are fixable.

That's alot of money

If Ding can just believe in his innate fighting abilities and treat this match as just another tournament, he can win this!! He has just got to put the last few years in the back of his mind, and believe in himself again. HE CAN DO THIS!! I'm vigorously supporting Ding Liren - the current and deserved World Champion will step up! Ding is the Master and Gukesh the student!!

Ding👌👍

Welcome to the official discussion thread for the FIDE World Chess Championship Singapore 2024! 🎉

Let’s use this space to talk about:

Players: Who are your favorites, and what are their chances?
10.0.0.0.1 – 10.0.0.1 Predictions: Who do you think will take the crown this year?
Venue and event updates: Any notable news or experiences from attendees.

I root for India 🇮🇳!

Dang I don't know who to root for. I kind of like cheering for underdogs so I guess it will be Ding. But I like Gukesh too so if he wins that's cool too. I just hope Ding can make a decent showing. I feel bad for Ding falling off like he has recently UNLESS that's part of his strategy to keep the crown.

Hard to call. Ding has had a rough year. Gukesh is determined and has a huge opportunity here. I think if Ding plays strong in the beginning of tournament he wont let go. Likewise for Gukesh if he starts strong and keeps Ding on his heels considering Dings last year he might breaks Dings confidence and take it home. Good luck to both Champions in the 2024 Championship Match!