Bengaluru: Here’s what we know eight games into the World Championship match. This isn’t the Ding Liren the world was expecting to show up to defend his title and what we have on our hands is a match that’s crackled to life. In Game 8 on Wednesday, momentum switched sides in a tense battle and we had a draw after 51 moves of thrilling chess.
The match between Ding and challenger D Gukesh remains tied at 4-4, with six more classical games remaining.
After Tuesday’s five-hour plus duel, Ding arrived to play with the White pieces and started off with a different first move – 1.c4, the English Opening, than he had played earlier in this match. Gukesh responded with 1.e5 and the Reverse Sicilian was soon on the board. Black developed its dark-squared bishop to b4 early on, provoked Nd5 and then fell back to e7. On move 7, Gukesh took Ding by surprise with a seemingly complex f6 novelty, setting up a pawn triangle. Ding was thrown off and retreated into thought for over 20 minutes.
In the press conference that followed the game, the Chinese GM was forthright about being surprised by Gukesh’s opening ideas. “Actually, I didn’t feel so nervous during the game, I just felt uncomfortable out of the opening,” Ding said. “Considering the time I used, you can see I was very surprised by his opening choice.” Ding came up with an interesting pawn sacrifice and Gukesh didn’t fall into the temptation of grabbing White’s pawn on c4 and instead chose to focus on gaining space on the queenside.
Gukesh had a devilish plan brewing. The seemingly defensive 19. Ne5 and 20. Nd7 led up to 22. b5 which seemed to prise open White’s c4-d3-e2 pawn structure. Suddenly White’s pieces appeared a lot less coordinated and White’s dark-squared bishop sat there on g2, aloof from pitching into the battle on the queenside. Ding managed to spot the defensive idea of 26. Bd4 and Gukesh knew right away that he had to plant his knight on c5. Only that he picked the wrong knight for the job. Instead of Ndc5, which would have handed him a decisive advantage, Gukesh plucked his other knight from the a-file and stationed it on the c5 square.
Under time pressure, Ding played a sequence of accurate moves, starting with 28. Qe1, a resource that Gukesh later admitted he completely missed, and 30. Be3, clearing the way for the d3 pawn. As the players reached move 40 and it seemed like a peaceful result was on the cards, Gukesh turned down Ding’s three-fold repetition offer. In a position where Ding was slightly better, the Indian chose to play on. Both players fought for initiative but the queens were soon off the board and the game was drawn with opposite-coloured bishops on the board.
Revelations in the post-game press conferences of games like this one can be fascinating. A peek into the minds and struggles of the players locked over the board, while the rest of the world gushes and gasps over computer evaluations. “This position where I didn’t repeat, I didn’t think I was in much danger…It was just a misjudgement of the position. Obviously, if I knew the position was bad, I would have taken the draw,” said Gukesh, while Ding was surprised to discover in the press room later that he was winning at some point. The players went over the moves on the laptop placed on the table and Gukesh was quick to offer Ding praise for his Qe1 resource. “It was actually very impressive that my opponent found this move so quickly.”
Ding pointed out that he’s getting used to tense games in general. “Recently, whenever I played a match, online or over the board, it’s been very tense. Even if I win, it’s with a small margin, so it was my expectation.”
Gukesh may have had his chances both in Game 7 and Game 8, but he’s not beating himself up over it. “In the first game my play was shaky,” said Gukesh. “But the last few games my play has been quite good. Just a couple of moments where I missed my chances, but overall I think I’m playing really well.”
Both in Game 7 and Game 8, the players have had exacting contests, and there’s one more game to go before they hit the rest day. Games like these are sure to be sapping on their mental and physical reserves but both players appeared relieved, and cheerful, during the press interaction.
Ding and Gukesh are accompanied by one parent each in Singapore. Gukesh’s father, who is a familiar sight at all tournaments the teenager plays in, is with him, while Ding has his mother by his side. “My mum wakes me up and provides food for me, so she’s doing her job,” Ding smiled.
