Gukesh loses to China’s Liren in opener

Grandmaster D Gukesh paid dearly for unwarranted complications in his middle game as defending champion Ding Liren of China drew first blood by defeating the teenaged Indian in a high-pressure opening game of the World Chess Championship here on Monday.

The victory with black pieces gave the Chinese an early lead in the 14-game showdown scheduled to last till mid-December.

“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,” Gukesh said after the game.

Winning with black not just meant a full point but also huge psychological advantage for Liren in the USD 2.5 million prize money event because he entered the competition with patchy form. The first player to reach 7.5 points among the two will claim the coveted crown.

Gukesh, the youngest ever challenger for the world championship crown, came up with an early surprise in the opening by pushing his king pawn forward. It’s a move that symbolises attacking intentions and the Chinese chose the French defense to combat the situation.

“Of course I was nervous but once I started playing, I calmed down but then the momentum kind of slipped,” said the Chennai-lad.

The line chosen by Gukesh was exactly what the legendary Viswanathan Anand picked in his first world championship-winning contest against Alexei Shirov of Spain in 2001.

The choice of move had enough impact as Liren spent a lot of time in the opening that was probably not expected by any expert of the game.

By the 12th move, Gukesh had a half hour advantage on the clock but eight moves later, Liren had a couple of extra minutes to boast off on his clock giving a clear indication that he had gotten out of his opening problems and had a decent middle game on hand.

The 32-year-old Chinese displayed peak form after that as Gukesh’s middle game crumbled. The clash lasted 42 moves.