Ding Liren – Gukesh Dommaraju, World Chess Championship 2024, Singapore, Round 14, December 12, 2024, Grünfeld-Indian in suit
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Lg2 Nc6 4.d4 (This means that Grünfeld Indian is achieved with the colors swapped.) 4…e6 5.OO (5.c4 would transition in Catalan.) 5…cxd4 6.Nxd4 Sge7!? (A surprise: 6…Bc5 and 6…Nf6 are common, while 6…e5?! 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.c4! Be6 9.Nc3 after 9…Ne7 10.Qa4 or 9…Nf6 10.Bg5 would give White a clear advantage .) 7.c4 Sxd4 8.Dxd4 Sc6 (By attacking the queen, Black gains a tempo for 9…d4.) 9.Dd1 d4 10.e3! Lc5 11.exd4! (11.Dh5 Db6 12.exd4 Lxd4 13.Sc3 0-0 =) 11…Lxd4 12.Sc3 OO 13.Sb5 Lb6 14.b3 a6 15.Sc3 Ld4 16.Lb2 e5 17.Dd2 Le6 18.Sd5! +/= (With this central jumper, Ding has created ideal conditions for a game with only two results, but in the following he deviates from the right path.) 18…b5! 19.cxb5?! (With 19.Bxd4! Nxd4 [19…exd4 20.Sf4! +/-] 20.f4! bxc4 21.bxc4 Rc8 22.Rac1 Qd6 23.fxe5 Qc5 24.Kh1 +/= Ding could play to win because 23…Qxe5?? 24.Rfe1 +- I lose the knight.) 19…axb5 20.Sf4 exf4 21.Lxc6 Lxb2 22.Dxb2 Tb8 23.Tfd1 Db6 24.Lf3 (A pure heavy piece endgame using 24.Bd7 Rfd8 25.Bxe6 Qxe6 26.Qc3! = was preferable. This would also have prevented Ding from the annoying 26…b4?, because after 27.Qxb4! +/- 27…Rxb4?? fails on 28 .Rxd8+ Qe8 29.Rxe8#.) 24…fxg3 25.hxg3 b4! (Gukesh sets the pawn structure on the queenside and relies on two trumps – the game against a2 and its extra pawn on the kingside.) 26 a4? (Ding wants to get rid of the weakness a2 immediately. 26.Rd4 or 26.Bd5 were preferable.) 26…bxa3 27.Txa3 g6 28.Dd4 Db5 (28…Bxb3 29.Qxb6 Rxb6 30.Rb1 Rfb8 31.Ra8 Rxa8 32.Bxa8 Ra6 33.Rxb3 Rxa8 would have resulted in the same constellation in the rook endgame as in the 13th game.) 29.b4?! (Instead of 29.Rd3 = the world champion wants to force the exchange of queens and the exchange of a pair of rooks and defend the endgame with a minus pawn.) 29…Rxb4 30.Rxb4 Rxb4 31.Ta8 Txa8 32.Lxa8 (White objectively cannot lose this static position despite his minus pawn. But the path to a draw leads through endless torment…) 32…g5 33.Ld5 Lf5 34.Tc1 Kg7 35.Tc7 Lg6 36.Tc4 Rb1+ 37.Kg2 Te1 38.Tb4 h5 39.Ta4 Te5 40.Lf3 Kh6 41.Kg1 Te6 42.Tc4 g4 43.Ld5 Td6 44.Lb7 Kg5 45.f3 (Weakens the second row, but Ding doesn’t want to wait for 45…f5 46.Rc4 h4! after 45.Ra4.) 45…f5 46.fxg4 hxg4 47.Tb4 Lf7 48.Kf2 Td2+ 49.Kg1 Kf6 50.Tb6+ Kg5 51.Tb4 Le6 52.Ta4 Tb2 53.La8?! (Overture of the error: You shouldn’t voluntarily put a bishop in the corner. The correct was 53.Bc6.) 53…Kf6 54.Rf4 Ke5 55.Rf2?? (Ding forgets for a moment that his bishop is on a8. He had to wait with 55.Ra4, after which Gukesh would probably have tried to transfer the bishop to e4 with 55…Ba2 56.Bc6 Bb1.) 55…Rxf2! 56.Kxf2 Bd5! (Forces the exchange of bishops and the transition to a won pawn ending.) 57.Bxd5 (The defending champion has to face the inevitable, because the board is over after eight rows and therefore 58.Bb9 is not a regular move…) 57…Kxd5 58.Ke3 Ke5 (Gukesh is the new world champion, because after 59.Kd3 f4 60.Ke2 f3+ 61.Ke3 the hope of 61…Kd5 62.Kf2 Ke4 63.Kf1 Ke3 64.Ke1 f2+ 65.Kf1 Kf3?? = stalemate not, but Black wins with 61…f2! 62.Kxf2 Kd4! 63.Ke2 Ke4 64.Kf2 Kd3 65.Kf1 Ke3 66.Kg2 Ke2 67.Kg1 Kf3 68.Kh2 Kf2 69.Kh1 Kxg3 70.Kg1 Kh3 71.Kh1 g3 72.Kg1 g2 73.Kf2 Kh2 and escorts the g- pawns to queen.) 0:1