GOOGLE GETS ON BOARD

Tech giant will help fund World Chess Championship in S’pore in landmark deal

- Melvyn Teoh

In a first for the tournament, the International Chess Federation (Fide) and Singapore Chess Federation (SCF) on Sept 12 announced tech giant Google as the title sponsor of the upcoming World Chess Championship.

The prestigious event will be held at the Resorts World Sentosa from Nov 23 to Dec 15, and will feature China's world champion Ding Liren against challenger Gukesh Dommaraju of India in a best-of-14 format.

This is the first time that the championship is partnering a global technology leader and, while SCF and Google declined to reveal the value of the sponsorship, it will go some way to funding the event's budget.

It was previously reported that the championship would cost US$8.5 million (S$11.1 million), with US$2.5 million used for prize money, US$1.1 million to Fide for licensing fees and the rest for venue and organising costs.