Bengaluru: As early as move 13 of Game 3, Ding Liren fell behind an hour on the clock, shifting in his chair, visibly uncomfortable at the position in front of him. Gukesh at the other end was a picture of calm, resting back in his chair with eyes closed. In the end, for Ding it ended up being a costly payback for the time he had frittered away. He was soon staring at the heart-stopping task of playing nine moves in two minutes. It was then down to a clutch of seconds for three moves.
The reigning world champion lost Game 3 in a wild time scramble in a difficult position as Gukesh levelled scores 1.5-1.5 in the World Championship in Singapore on Wednesday, heading into the first rest day of the match. This is also Gukesh’s first-ever classical win over Ding.
“It feels great,” Gukesh said, in the press conference that followed. “I just managed to outplay my opponent which is always very nice.”
Ding will rue how he botched things up for himself given how he was placed after surviving the opening. The 18-year-old Indian switched openings, going from 1.e4 in Game 1 to a 1.d4 surprise in Game 3. He trotted out the rare 7.h3 with the idea of perhaps taking the game to unfamiliar terrain for his opponent. It was played by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik twice in 2023.
The Queens came off the board by move 9 and Ding made the terrible mistake of pushing his light-squared bishop to c2, hitting White’s b3 pawn and ending up being trapped behind enemy lines, gasping for air. It was a sneaky little trap set up by Gukesh. The Indian had it all worked out and Ding didn’t fully grasp what he was walking into.
This sequence of moves, as it turns out, was played between Kramnik and India’s Arjun Erigaisi at the World Rapid Team Championships last year. That game had ended in a 72-move draw. When asked about it, Gukesh said that he recalled it was the same position till move 13. “I think Arjun made some mistake and Kramnik had a huge advantage, but it ended in a draw. I remember this detail but don’t remember exactly how the game went.”
Gukesh was in the book till move 13 and offered that he was surprised by how Ding responded – “I think how he reacted was not the most precise way and then I think I just got a very good position.” Ding on his part said that he found his position uncomfortable early on and was trying to come up with a plan to rescue his trapped bishop. Ding made a couple of sound choices in the middlegame, including the Nbd7 novelty on move 13.
Just when it looked like he had solved his problems, Ding chose an ill-considered 18…Rh5. Gukesh responded by pushing his pawn to e4, cutting off all exit points for the trapped bishop. This shifted the momentum of the game since it meant that Black was not going to get sufficient compensation for the piece. To make things worse for Ding, he was low on time.
Gukesh realised that the game had reached a territory where he had to just hunker down, find the right moves and walk away with an equalising win in the match. He reeled off a series of accurate moves, the most crucial of which was finding 23…Ne2! – the only move in the position that gives White an advantage. Gukesh sat eyes closed for a couple of minutes, the move already swimming in his head, before he played it out on the board.
Ding was in trouble both on the clock and on the board. He later said that he had missed Gukesh’s incoming Ne2 strike. Black was down a piece – he had given up his bishop for two pawns, and Gukesh, playing at 98.7 percent accuracy, was finding all the right moves, tightening the noose further.
White had an objectively winning position and the Black king looked like it could potentially fall into mating nets. Things didn’t get as far. Ding froze, the seconds counting down on his clock. He pushed his rook to the h5 square on move 37, knocking over a few pieces and his time ran out. He needed to make three more moves before time control could be reached and he would have an extra half hour with increments kicking in to work on what was still a miserable position. He looked devastated as the scoresheets were signed and the defeat had turned into a reality. Asked how he plans to strike back, he paused before saying: “Just the position itself …If I have a chance in the game, I need to press for the win.”
Gukesh has evened things out in this match after a nervy loss in Game 1. He doesn’t seem to have doubted it. “I always knew that once I settle in, I will get back my rhythm.”
