The world turned upside down on Wednesday shortly before 5 p.m. in the lobby in front of the ballroom in the Equarius Hotel on the holiday island of Sentosa in Singapore: Gukesh is the first to appear for the fight, so far he has always been second. He almost rushes towards the ballroom with the stage. Of course, the topic of conversation among the waiting reporters and fans: must Ding Liren still brace yourself until the very last minute? Ding has black in this penultimate round of the World Cup, the score is 6:6, and he can be sure that Team Gukesh has prepared another opening match.
That’s how it is. The young Indian opened with 1. e4, the double step of the king’s pawn, which was not necessarily expected since he had only achieved one draw and one defeat with this move so far.
But of course his seconds dug deep into the variant tunnel and found new positional gold. It comes to light on the 7th move of the French Opening, which Ding plays again: a harmless-seeming advance by the white left-wing pawn.
7. a3, this is what the chess players write on their game forms. Ding sinks into deep thought, as we already know from him. It is almost always Gukesh who comes up with something extraordinary. Ding then thinks yikes and has to find something “on the board”, as they say here.
“On the board” means: While his opponent makes moves that he and his helpers have previously thought about and checked, Ding is on his own and hopes for a brilliant idea while the game is already underway. Ding ponders for 17 minutes, then moves his king bishop to the e7 square.
The commentators in the live stream of the World Chess Federation Fide look into their database and announce: This move was first played in 1927, in a game of Marshall against Colle, 97 years ago, hear, hear. And the American Kamsky pulled that recently, in August 2024. A train that spans a century.
Chess doesn’t forget anything. Everything is written down, saved, knowledge for later. It’s just a shame that thing doesn’t have access to it now. Nobody helps him on the board.
The duelists’ central pawns have become wedged together; Now the question is how long this structure will last and how Black might be able to nibble on it. White has more space and takes a look at the opponent’s kingside. Black is a bit pressed, but hopes to break the white pawn chain at some point. The questions are as clear as the answers are unclear. Dealing with that is where the skill lies.
Ding’s exorbitant consumption of time after just a few moves is repeatedly mentioned at press conferences. He knows this and accepts it until he recently went in the opposite direction: he hasn’t actually thought long enough in difficult situations and now wants to change that. On his 8th move in the current game, knight on the b6 square, he thinks about it for 37 minutes.
After nine moves, Ding is an hour away from the two hours he only has. His fans in the audience think: Now finally move! Otherwise you won’t have any more time afterwards.
Gukesh slides into the complications on a fat cushion of time, but then makes the mistake he has made many times before. In order not to jeopardize his time advantage, he moves quickly. He would have liked to think about his 12th move. Get the queen out, attack, that would have been it. Instead, he puts a jumper in her way and takes it easy. Comfortable isn’t good when the world champion is sitting across from you.
During the World Cup, Ding was mocked by fellow grandmasters for playing too unaggressively. Why does he always just want a draw? Gukesh would also have deserved this ridicule: If he’s in charge, he should think about it.
Although Gukesh doesn’t choose the sharpest continuations in the game, Ding comes under more and more pressure. His white-squared bishop only moves for the first time on move 38, an officer of sorrow. Gukesh’s king knight, on the other hand, invades the black camp, spreading fear and terror. If Gukesh won this game, no one would be surprised.
But Ding, a Houdini of chess, once again wiggles his way out of trouble and, after dangerous entanglements, reaches a rook endgame with one pawn less, which he holds easily.
Draw! How bitter for Gukesh. Again something to put away, because he would have if, and the queen instead of the knight on the 12th move, and how the chains of thought run like that. Every chess player knows this.
That’s why on Thursday this Golden Game. Ding chooses this term after the game, probably borrowed from football. If he wins, he remains world champion. If he loses, that’s it. If it’s a draw again, the fight goes on and the decision will be made on Friday – in football terms – on penalties.
In the World Chess Championship the score is 6.5:6.5. The last round begins on Thursday at 10 a.m. German time. If it ends in a draw, there will be a play-off with a shortened consideration time on Friday. You can read all of our reporter Ulrich Stock’s reports from the World Chess Championship in Singapore here. Grandmaster Niclas Huschenbeth also provides video analyzes of all games for ZEIT ONLINE.
