New Delhi: Indian chess grandmaster Gukesh D paid a heavy price for unwarranted complications in the middle game which allowed China’s Ding Liren, the defending champion, to bag the opening match of the World Chess Championship in Singapore on Monday. Teenage sensation Gukesh is the youngest ever challenger for the world championship title and firmly conveyed his intentions to everyone with an early surprise in the match.
He made a daring move against Liren, pushing his king pawn forward, which is a move that symbolises attacking intentions and the Chinese indeed have a brilliant tackling technique. The senior player came up with a French defense to combat the situation. It is noteworthy that the line that Gukesh chose, was similar to what the legendary Viswanathan Anand had picked during his first world championship-winning contest against Spain’s Alexei Shirov back in 2001.
The choice of move had a greater impact during the game as Liren spent a lot of time in the opening which wasn’t probably expected by any pundit of the game. Gukesh had an advantage of half an hour on the clock, by the 12th move but his Chinese opponent had a couple of minutes extra to boast off on his clock. This was a clear indication that he has got rid of his opening problems and has a decent middle game on hand.
The middle game of Gukesh soon crumbled as the 32-year-old Liren displayed gun form after that. The classical game lasted for 42 moves before the result was achieved.
Gukesh resigns, and World Champion Ding Liren wins the first game of World Chess Championship 2024! #Dinggukesh #worldchesschampionship2024 pic.twitter.com/DEsyAw1RVz
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) November 25, 2024
What the players said post-match
Gukesh was hopeful of a turnaround as he looked unfazed by the loss and was more positive about the future. “It can happen, it’s a long match. About my opponent’s form, I expected nothing else. I expected the best version of him, and we have a long match ahead, so it’s only more exciting now. Of course I was nervous but once I started playing, I calmed down but then the momentum kind of slipped,” the Chennai lad said after the match, as quoted by PTI..
On the other hand, Liren admitted that luck favoured him in the clash as he missed a few tactics. “I haven’t won a single classical game for a long time, and today, I managed to do that. But this game, to be fair, was very lucky for me because I missed two tactics,” Liren said in the post-match press conference. He added that he tried to play something unusual against a nervous Gukesh, which he hadn’t played for a long time, and that it worked out perfectly.
The titular tournament has 14 games scheduled till mid-December and the second game will be played on November 26.
Ding Liren asserted early dominance in the World Chess Championship as he beat Gukesh D in the opening clash on Monday and has sent some early scares to the Indian chess fans. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
