Ding Liren of China (age: 32) seeks to defend the title from his opponent Gukesh Dommaraju of India (age: 18). Ding previously successfully defended his title against the Russian challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi (age: 32, at the time) winning the match in game four of rapid tiebreaks. Gukesh became the challenger by winning the 2024 Candidates Tournament with a score of 9/14 over a field which included Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (IND), Vidit Gujrathi (IND), Alireza Firouzja (FRA), and Nijat Abasov (AZE). The match will take place from November 25 to December 13 in Sentosa, Singapore. It will consist of fourteen classical games, with rapid and blitz tiebreaks if necessary.