New Delhi: The entire nation woke up to a historic realization on Thursday. Two of India’s young chess masters, 19-year-old Dumaraju Gokesh and 24-year-old Vaishali Ramesh Babu, will compete in their respective World Chess Championship matches. This means that for the first time, India has a shot at simultaneously crowning two world champions in the 64-over game.Gokesh, already a reigning champion, will face Uzbekistan’s Javakhir Sindrov, who enters the Candidates tournament unbeaten and with a commendable score of 10/14 points after outfoxing his opponents.Vaishali, on the other hand, clinched the women’s singles title with a remarkable performance, securing her date with China’s five-time world champion Jo Wenjin.
Javakhir Sandroof won the honor of the candidates. (Photo by Nikki Riga)
How will you do it? FIDE Decide on a host city?
TimesofIndia.com understands that FIDE will now begin the formal process of selecting hosts for both the World Championship matches. It begins with a tender for bids, which is expected to be published in the month of May.“FIDE will soon open bids for hosting the matches. The announcement will be published on the FIDE website and sent to all national federations,” a FIDE official told the website.The tender is expected to be comprehensive. This will include guidelines on match and event duration, minimum total budget requirements for the event, minimum prize fund, FIDE fees, and sponsors and organizational regulations.While private companies or a consortium from a specific country may be interested in hosting these high-profile matches, FIDE guidelines state that bids must be submitted by national federations.“Bids to host matches are accepted from national federations, with detailed requirements for infrastructure, accommodation, and official FIDE inspection. The FIDE General Strategy Commission will review all applications, and the FIDE Council will approve the final host city,” the official added.In terms of the calendar, FIDE has fixed the World Championship match for the November-December 2026 window. Meanwhile, the women’s match is currently tentatively scheduled for spring 2027. This is similar to the last cycle where the FIDE Women’s World Chess Championship 2025 was held in China from 1-16 April 2025, when D Gukesh faced Ding Liren in the November-December 2024 World Championship match.However, FIDE is also considering the possibility of hosting both championship matches simultaneously. It is understood that this option is being considered and is a distinct possibility, although it is not a mandatory requirement.The final decision will likely depend on the level of interest in the Women’s World Championship in terms of bidding and commercial sponsors. If the host city or a group of sponsors see the value in a double-header featuring both the Open and Women’s titles, the world could see Gokesh and Vaishali fighting for the crown under one roof.
