Skip to content
Gukesh Dommaraju
Javokhir Sindarov
 India |  Uzbekistan |
| Venue | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Dates | 25.11.2026 – 15.12.2026 |
FIDE Acting President and former World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand said that several countries had submitted bids to host the 2026 World Championship, including India, Cyprus and the United States. However, FIDE selected Switzerland as the venue for the FIDE World Chess Championship. The match will take place in Geneva from November 25 to December 15. The world title will be contested by reigning World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and 2026 Candidates Tournament winner Javokhir Sindarov.
Switzerland last hosted the World Chess Championship in 2004, when Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik and Hungary’s Peter Leko competed for the world title.
Match Format
The match will consist of 14 classical games. The match will continue until one of the players reaches 7.5 points or more. If the score is tied after 14 games, the winner will be determined by a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, the players will contest four Rapid games, with 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move. If the score remains tied, two more Blitz games will be played, or four if necessary, with a time control of 5 minutes plus a 3-second increment per move. If the players are still tied after the Blitz games, the winner will be decided by an Armageddon game.
Head-to-Head History
Gukesh Dommaraju and Javokhir Sindarov have already faced each other at various tournaments, including junior events.
At the Grand Chess Tour: Super Rapid & Blitz Poland 2026, Gukesh Dommaraju and Javokhir Sindarov played three games against each other. Their first encounter took place in the Rapid section in Round 5, while the other two games were played in Blitz in Rounds 8 and 17.
Gukesh won the Rapid game in Round 5. The Indian grandmaster played with the black pieces, while Sindarov had White:
Gukesh managed to outplay his opponent and secure victory in their first head-to-head encounter at the tournament.
Sindarov proved stronger in the two Blitz games. In Round 8, he played Black against Gukesh and won, while in Round 17 the players switched colors, with Sindarov playing White and winning again:
As a result, Sindarov leads their head-to-head score 2:1 after three games. Everything suggests that we are in for an intriguing and exciting battle in November, with both the reigning champion and the challenger having a genuine chance to win.
