Mumbai: India’s reigning World Champion D Gukesh will take on challenger Javokhir Sindarov in the FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2026 at Geneva, Switzerland, from November 25 to December 15, 2026, the sport’s global governing body FIDE announced on Tuesday.
Both Gukesh, who became the World Champion by beating China’s Ding Liren in Singapore in 2024, and Uzbekistan’s Sindarov, who came through the FIDE Challenger Tournament, will be 20 years old when the event begins, making it the youngest World Championship contest in history.
The FIDE World Championship Match will consist of 14 classical games. The first player to score 7½ points will win the match, with no further games played once that score has been reached. Should the score be tied after all 14 classical games, the World Champion will be decided through tiebreaks.
FIDE Interim President and former World Champion Viswanathan Anand welcomed the announcement and said besides Switzerland, the United States and Cyprus had bid to organise the match.
“Several countries expressed a strong interest in hosting the FIDE World Championship Match, including India, the United States and Cyprus. After carefully considering all the proposals, FIDE has decided to stage the match on neutral soil and bring it to Geneva, a city with a historic tradition of bringing nations and cultures together. We look forward to welcoming the global chess community to Switzerland. The local chess fans will have the opportunity to experience world-class chess in person, while millions of fans around the globe can follow the battle online as the duel for the highest title in chess unfolds,” Anand was quoted as saying in a press release on Tuesday.
“This is a truly special day for Swiss chess,” said André Vögtlin, President of the Swiss Chess Federation (SSB), commenting on the selection of Geneva as host city for the World Championship. “Twenty-two years after Brissago, an event of global chess significance is returning to Switzerland. For us, this is far more than wonderful news – it’s a defining moment for chess in our country, one that fills us with both joy and motivation.” IANS
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