World Chess Championship: FIDE officials in Chennai tomorrow for venue recce

Chennai: A two-member team of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) will be here on Friday as part of their inspection for the World Championship venue.

"FIDE's Planning and Development Commission Secretary, Kermen Goryaeva, and FIDE's Head of PR, Anna Volkova, will be on duty for this," reliable sources told PTI.

Chennai is one of the three cities, with Delhi and Singapore being the other, that are in the race to host the World Championship encounter.

While Delhi's bid happens to be from the All India Chess Federation (AICF), the Chennai bid has been put forward by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT).

The World Championship clash is slated between November 20 and December 15, with defending champion Grandmaster Ding Liren of China locking horns with GM Dommaraju Gukesh of India.

The 18-year-old Indian qualified for the World Championship by winning the Candidates Tournament held in Toronto this April.

Gukesh had finished atop the table with a score of 9/14, ahead of Hikaru Nakamura of the USA, Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Fabiano Caruana of the USA, who were placed second, third and fourth, respectively.

Fellow Indian GM R Praggnanandhaa finished fifth, while country-mate Vidit Gujrathi was placed sixth.

Meanwhile, Liren has confirmed his participation in the event giving his "mandate", according to sources.