World Chess Championship 2024: What happened in the final last year between Liren and Nepomniachtchi

Indian grandmaster D. Gukesh will challenge defending champion Ding Liren for the World Chess Championship title, starting on November 25 in Singapore.

Gukesh, who won the Candidates tournament in April, became the youngest challenger to the world title at the age of 17.

Liren, who has been away from a major chunk of the competitions this year, won the world crown in May last year after defeating Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.

What happened in the World Chess Championship final last year?

China’s Liren ascended to the throne after defeating his Russian rival Nepomniachtchi in the fourth rapid game of the first tie-breaker during last year’s final in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Liren reached the final despite not winning the Candidates tournament after then-world champion Magnus Carlsen withdrew from the match against Nepomniachtchi.

Following this, the world chess governing body decided to conduct a World title match between the top two players at the Candidates, Nepomniachtchi and Ding, ranked second and third respectively in the world.

After the opening game was drawn, it was Nepomniachtchi who drew first blood, winning the second. Ding did the catching up in remarkable fashion in the remaining games and equalised for one last time in the 12th game. The next two were drawn.

With the score tied at 7-7, the tie-breakers (rapid) had to be played. The first three games were drawn and Ding won the fourth. He became the first male Chinese player to win the world championship.