Bengaluru: The calm of the past couple of games was building toward a storm.

The tipping point finally arrived in Game 11. In a game which oscillated in momentum and could have gone either way, it came down to nerves. Reigning world champion, Ding Liren, cracked and blundered. He now trails in the World Championship match with just three classical games to go. Gukesh not only takes a whole point and the lead in the match but also $200,000 for his Game 11 win.

“This is a very, very important win,” said Gukesh. “You think you’re just losing and then you get some chance. I mean, you get out of danger and then you suddenly see that you can actually take over the game. It’s such a very pleasant feeling. Basically, I was just making moves and it quickly went completely out of control for him…We were going head-to-head for like the last seven games. I missed a couple of chances earlier. Especially, since this game could have easily gone the other way as well, this is a very important win. There are three more important games to go.” Of the remaining three games, Ding will have the White pieces in two of them.

Ding described it as a “difficult” game for himself. This loss must feel like a huge blow to the champion, coming so close to the finish. “Already on move four, I wasn’t sure if I had made the correct choice. I remembered a game I played in a rapid tournament against (Baskaran) Adhiban but I couldn’t remember the other moves. I spent 40 minutes calculating some nonsense variations.”

Gukesh opened with 1.Nf3 and trotted out 3.b4, a fresh opening path. He revealed that 5.a3 – which is a new move in the position – was something his team prepared and showed him on Saturday night. “I was aware of this game that he (Ding) played with Adhiban (in the 2021 Goldmoney Asian rapid online tournament). I really liked the a3 idea, it’s almost never been played before…But what happened after this was terrible for me.”

The idea for Gukesh coming into Game 11 was to drum up something double-edged, banking on the odds of out-preparing Ding. “My team did some amazing work and I felt it was a very interesting line. The risk-reward ratio was quite nice because I would be surprising him for sure.” Gukesh chose to side-step any queries on the identity of his team members when he was pointedly asked if fellow Indian and 2800-club member Arjun Erigaisi is helping him in the match.

“You’ll get to know the team soon…we’ll see after the match,” Gukesh replied.

Asked about his one-hour think before move 11 Gukesh said that he was “kicking myself” for the position he had landed in. “It was such a normal position and then suddenly my queen was stuck on F4 and I didn’t know what to do. At that moment, I was just kicking myself, I had some problems getting myself back in the game. I was just trying to make one move at a time and not lose on the spot. I think 16.a4 was a very important resource because at first I just had no idea what to do in this position.”

Soon both players were down on the clock. Only one of them got out alive. “We both had less time than the number of moves we had to make. So, it was almost like a blitz game. I was just trying to make one move at a time and not lose on the spot, but this a4 was a very important resource.”

The spate of draws and Ding playing solid and safe with White gave the impression that the world champion was looking to steer the match to the tiebreaks. Gukesh said he wasn’t particularly concerned over the draws. “I thought there are a few interesting games ahead and anything can happen. I was taking one game at a time and today during the game I kind of lost my cool at some point, because I achieved exactly what I wanted out of the opening and then I just went crazy for some time. But after that, once I realised that I’m not losing and that I have chances, I suddenly won the game. It’s mostly relief I would say because at some point I was just really worried about my position. So yeah, super, super happy and relieved.”

Gukesh’s Game 11 win brings him closer to the title. By the end of this week, we could well be looking at an 18-year-old world champion from India.

“I did notice Indian fans cheering for me before the game,” said the teen. “After the game, when I was coming out of the playing hall, I could hear some very nice celebrations. Although I did not see them live, I could hear them which was very nice. I mean what can I say? Indian fans are the best. I’m really grateful for all the support. It’s been quite a long match and all these little things give me the extra energy I need.”