 "D Gukesh has decided to skip the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship in New York. Image: PTI")
New chess world champion D Gukesh will not be participating in the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship, which will take place in New York from 26-31 December. Gukesh, who won the World Chess Championship 2024 last week , confirmed the news on Monday at the Velammal Nexus’s felicitation ceremony in Chennai. The second confirmation came on Tuesday from the chess global FIDE, which released the full list of participants for the World Rapid and Blitz Championship without Gukesh’s name.
Gukesh missing the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship means we will have to wait for a while to see his next match against world No.1 Magnus Carlsen. It has been confirmed that Gukesh and Carlsen will be a part of Norway Chess in May-June next year .
Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa to represent India
India will be represented by Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa Vidit Gujrathi, Aravindh Chithambaram, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Divya Deshmukh, R Vaishali, Vantika Agrawal among others at the World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Gukesh’s absence.
In addition to Carlsen, the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship 2024 will include some of the best chess players, such as Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Hikaru Nakamura.
Gukesh became the new chess world champion on 12 December by beating Chinese Ding Liren in Game 14 of the World Chess Championship 2024. Gukesh won the best-of-14-game series by a margin of 7.5-6.5. Gukesh, 18, is the youngest chess world champion of all time.
Gukesh defends Ding after World Championship loss
Ding’s shocking loss has led Russian Chess Federation Andrei Filatov to question the 32-year-old’s last-ditch mistake .
Gukesh defended Ding during his conversation with the media in Chennai, saying the mistakes are not uncommon towards the end of a long-drawn mental battle.
“Anyone who understands high-level sports, it’s clear that if you play 13 games at a high level, in high intensity, prepared for six months, and you come for the last game at a world championship, you are pretty much dead at that point. We are basically two dead people playing chess. Mistakes happen in those moments,” Gukesh said.