India’s efforts to secure a home World Championships match for D Gukesh were futile, with Singapore pipping Delhi and Chennai to claim hosting rights for the elite chess event, which would face the youngest Challenger in history against defending champion Ding Liren of China. The Tamil Nadu government and the All-India Chess Federation (AICF) made separate proposals to FIDE, the world chess governing organization. The event, with a USD2.5 million prize money, will take place between November 20 and December 15 of this year.

After reviewing the bids and inspecting all potential host cities for their venues, amenities, event programs, and opportunities, the International Chess Federation has selected Singapore as the host of the World Championship Match, FIDE said in a press release statement.

The 17-year-old Gukesh made history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament in April, becoming the youngest-ever Challenger to the World Championship, breaking renowned Garry Kasparov’s 40-year record. AICF secretary Dev A Patel was disappointed but not devastated, stating that they could have just competed against their rivals in the greatest possible way, which they did. We placed our best possible bids, but they didn’t come in our favor. There’s no guarantee that we would have won. We value the competition, so that’s alright; nothing wrong with it. We’re happy that India gave two bids, Patel said.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said they are “delighted” that Singapore will host a World Championship match for the first time in the history of the game. Not only is Singapore one of the most iconic global tourist and business hubs, but it is also a thriving chess center with great ambitions and talent, Dvorkovich stated in a release.

I would also like to thank the other bidders – New Delhi and Chennai. Both cities are renowned chess hubs with a rich history of hosting chess events, and we are confident we will see major chess events there in the future, Dvorkovich added.

While we are naturally a little disappointed that our bid did not succeed, we are proud of the robust and compelling proposals put forth by us, AICF president Nitin Narang stated in a release. Narang said they would support Gukesh to the hilt in the historic match.