FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 - Games and Results
Two shadows overhang the match, World number one Magnus Carlsen gave up the title last year and is still probably (but not definitely) the best classical player and is absolutely the dominant rapid and blitz player now. No one player can be bigger than the game, and life goes on, this period feels similar to that between when Kasparov lost the title, but was still number one, and his eventual retirement, we got over it. Secondly Ding Liren's career and personal life were heavily affected by Covid-19 and the attendant lockdowns, he's admitted to depression and is playing rather poorly at the moment. That said Ding showed tremendous grit in winning the title and whilst you have to worry about him losing pretty much without a fight, that's by no means a given.
Gukesh is the favourite for the match and is improving all the time, he's bound to be nervous and maybe he'd have preferred another year of development but his victory is likely to usher in a brand new era for the game. Players such as Erigaisi, Abdusattorov, Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa, Keymer and Niemann are already fearsomely strong and yet aged 21 or less.