Zunächst allerdings hatten sich Probleme bei Ding abgezeichnet. Schon nach wenigen Zügen nahm sich der 32-Jährige 35 Minuten Bedenkzeit, er zog sein Jackett aus, wirkte nervös und etwas ratlos. Tatsächlich steckte er vor dem WM-Auftakt in einem veritablen Tief.
Gukesh rennt die Zeit davon
Der letzte Sieg des Weltmeisters lag fast zehn Monate zurück, auch wegen seiner persönlichen Probleme sagte er vor der ersten Partie gegen Gukesh: „Ich mache mir Sorgen, dass ich sehr hoch verlieren könnte.“ Sein junger Konkurrent hingegen hatte zuletzt bei der Schacholympiade in Budapest die indische Nationalmannschaft zu Gold geführt, er selbst gewann dabei acht von zehn Partien.
Gukesh in the gaming chair, Ding in the business desk chair, played a close match for long stretches. The further the duel progressed, the less time Gukesh had to think about it. This put the Indian under pressure and led to mistakes which the experienced Ding took advantage of. Gukesh, who was considered the favorite and who had also enjoyed the advantage of the opening, finally put his hands in his face after 42 moves and gave up in exasperation.
The World Cup will be held until December 15th. Ding and Gukesh compete against each other in a maximum of 14 classic games. A win gives you one point, a draw gives you 0.5 points. Whoever gets 7.5 points first is the world champion. If the score is 7:7, it goes to the tiebreak in increasingly shorter times.
The world number one, the Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, once again decided not to take part in the World Cup. He said: “I am not motivated to play another World Cup match. For historical reasons it would be interesting, but there wouldn’t be much for me to win.” Carlsen had not taken part in 2023 when Ding prevailed against the Russian Jan Nepomnjaschtschi in the tiebreak.
