Chess World Championship: Rivalry reaches boiling point

Braveheart Indian teenage grandmaster Gukesh D demonstrated guts and excellent preparation in the penultimate Game 13 of the classical 14-round phase of the World Chess Championship against title holder Ding Liren but missed finding a winning continuation, settling for a draw with the white pieces.

Game 14 will be played tomorrow and if it also ends in a draw, the players will move into the thrilling tie-break games on December 13.

The 18-year-old Indian opened with 1.e4, allowing Ding Liren to respond with 1.e6 and play the French Defence, his strong weapon with Black. Ding had won the first game with the French Defense, and Gukesh did not let him use it against him again. In Game 5, Ding Liren tried to use the French Defence in response to 1.e4 by Gukesh. However, Gukesh opted for the French Exchange Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5), opening the centre instead of going for the Advance Variation (3.e5), which keeps the centre locked and tense.

Gukesh played the rare a3 on the 7th move, which has been played only 13 times at the world level previously. White has won 38% of those games, while Black scored victory in 31%. Ding took 17 minutes to respond to 7.a3. Gukesh produced a novelty with 8. Be3 instead of the usual pawn to f4, making Ding think for 37 more minutes for his response.

The board soon developed into an imbalanced structure where Gukesh’s pieces focused on the King’s side while Ding’s were not well-placed on either side. It seemed the Indian challenger to the world title would storm the rival’s castling or win material soon. The decisive moment came on move 31 when Gukesh, playing fast, aimed his knight at e4 to exchange it with a rook (a stronger piece than a knight) in the next move.

However, the winning continuation was first to exchange rooks in the e-file and then place the knight on e4, attacking the other rook. Gukesh went for the attractive attack which fizzled out when Ding moved one of his rooks to f8. After that, the game remained balanced. The players agreed to a draw with the three-fold repetition of rooks on move 67.

Gukesh was surprised at the missed chance when commentators showed him at the post-match conference. However, he remained unfazed. Asked about how he will handle nerves ahead of Game 14, the last classical one tomorrow, Gukesh said, “I am just enjoying playing at this level. Yes, there will be nerves, but it is more important to enjoy the game. It surely gets more exciting towards the end of the match.”

Ding rules out retirement

A ‘chilling’ Ding Liren appeared cool at the press conference later, and to the excitement of his fans, he announced he will not quit playing chess after this championship. While going through a bad phase before the championship, he had mentioned he was thinking of retiring. “I will continue playing chess with fewer matches. Perhaps play less in the classical form and more Blitz,” he said, indicating he was mentally prepared for the tie-break format as well.

Tie-break rules

If the Game 14 between them ends in a draw, the winner will be decided by a series of tie-break games. The tie-break format includes:

• Rapid Match: Four games with a time control of 15 minutes per player plus a 10-second increment per move.
• Mini Rapid Match: Two games with a time control of 10 minutes per player plus a 5-second increment per move.
• Blitz Match: Two games with a time control of 3 minutes per player plus a 2-second increment per move.
• Sudden Death Blitz: Single games with a time control of 3 minutes per player plus a 2-second increment per move, continuing until there’s a winner.