Google Doodle is one of those things that bring a spark to your day while teaching you something new. And for Monday, November 25, it is no different.
The popular animation is celebrating chess - a two-player board game of strategy. Played on 64 black and white squares, the game is a long-standing one in British culture and was thought to have first been played in the sixth century in India.
The rules of the game first began taking their modern shape in the 15th century but why has Google jumped on the popular game for its online scribble?
What is the Google Doodle?
The doodle for November 25 is chess-themed and has been done to celebrate the 2024 World Chess Championships.
Two top chess players from around the globe will go head to head in board game battles across November and December in the hopes of being crowned the champion around Christmas time.
When is the World Chess Championship?
The event is being held in Singapore from Monday, November 25 to Sunday, December 15.
It is actually being sponsored by Google this year and will see 14 games being held between the reigning champion Ding Liren against challenger Gukesh Dommaraju.
Each match is expected to last around four hours and the first player to win 7.5 points will be crowned the champion for 2024. The players have two hours to make 40 moves, then 30 minutes to end the game. 30 seconds are added for each move from move 41 onwards.
In the event of a tie, they will play “blitz games” where each player only gets 3 minutes to checkmate the other.
The prize fund is $2,500,000, and each player will receive $200,000 for each game they win. The remaining money will be split equally between the two players. If the match is decided on a tie-break, the winner will receive $1,300,000, and the runner-up receives $1,200,000.
Who is the defending champion?
The current champion is called Ding Liren, and he won the accolade in 2023.
But after he won the ultimate champion title, he disappeared from public view and did not play in any professional contests for months on end.
He later confessed he had been suffering from fatigue and depression and withdrew from tournaments including the 2023 Asian Games.
He returned to classical chess in January 2024 at the Tata Steel Chess tournament where he announced that he was planning on defending his world title in the World Chess Championship.
How can I watch?
The first match starts on Monday, November 25 and begins at 5pm in Singapore, which is 1am UK time.
Full coverage begins at this time online. Fans will be able to watch the matches live on Chess.com/TV and the Chess24 Twitch and YouTube channels.
