Gms thipsay

World Chess Championship Match: Grandmaster duo Pravin Thipsay and Abhijit Kunte have seen many World Championship clashes during their long association with chess and both of them agree on one point -- that the upcoming title-deciding match between Gukesh Dommaraju of India and Ding Liren of China will not go the distance.

But they differ on the number of rounds or games it will last. Thipsay, the third Indian to become a Grandmaster, feels the World Championship Match between Gukesh and Ding, which will be played from November 25 to December 13 in Singapore, will be decided in less than 12 games while Kunte says the 14-game clash will be over in round 12.

But both the Grandmasters are sure of one thing -- Gukesh starts as an overwhelming favourite as he enjoys a huge advantage over his Chinese opponent in terms of ranking, rating and is also going through tremendous form having helped India win the gold medal in the Chess Olympiad. Ding had a poor time at the Olympiad in Budapest and finished with a negative score. Gukesh, on the other hand, finished with 9.5 points out of a possible 10.