D Gukesh paid a visit to Neem Karoli Baba’s ashram on Wednesday, ahead of his much-anticipated FIDE World Chess Championship 2026 match against Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov. Gukesh, who became the youngest world chess champion in 2024, by defeating China’s Ding Liren is preparing for a significant test of his career, as he is set to defend his title.
visit to Neem Karoli Baba’s ashram to seek the latter’s blessings comes at a time when the Indian chess champion is aiming to combine his competitive focus along with technical preparation to cope with the pressure of defending the most prestigious title in chess.
The game of chess requires a lot of mental stability. Gukesh had renowned mental conditioning coach working with him as his mental and performance consultant leading up to and during the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship against Liren.
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2026 between Gukesh and Sindarov is significant because of their ages. Both Gukesh and Sindarov will be 20 years old when the match starts, thus making it the youngest World Chess Championship match in history.
However, is a bit ahead of Sindarov in terms of experience of playing and actually winning a World Championship match. Gukesh is coming after months of preparation, peculiar psychological pressure and surviving the Candidates. On the other hand, Sindarov has form.
Sindarov has been unbeaten in the Candidates, and consistent throughout 2026. This has strengthened the argument that Sindarov could be the player to beat in Geneva. Meanwhile, world no.1 Magnus believed Sindarov to be the clear favourite against .
Carlsen had earlier described Sindarov as “very well rounded” and stated that the Uzbek player “doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses” after facing him at the Global League, according to worldchess.com.
The FIDE World Championship Match 2026 between Gukesh and Sindarov will officially run from November 25 to December 15 in Geneva, with Game 1 scheduled for November 24. The players will arrive in Geneva on November 20, followed by the Opening Ceremony and media day on November 22. The following day, the players will be a part of the technical meeting and respond to media enquiries if any.
