Go ahead — you can call it a comeback.
Chinese world champion Ding Liren showcased his trademark title match resilience, bouncing back from a painful Game 11 loss to Indian challenger GM Gukesh Dommaraju with a powerful win in Monday’s Game 12 to knot their FIDE title match in Singapore at 6-6 with just two classical games to go.
The stunning trade of knockouts after a string of seven draws sets up a dramatic finish this week and the possibility that the match will go into extra time and a rapid playoff.
Gukesh appeared to seize control of the match by winning the wildly uneven 11th game, which offered a classic example of how even the greatest grandmasters can outsmart themselves.
As he has repeatedly in the match, Gukesh as White managed to surprise his opponent almost from the get-go, with 3. b3!? and the novelty 5. a3! leading to a weird kind of Blumenfield Gambit Declined Reversed, with White having an extra move.
The idea was cute, but there was no reason for the Chinese champion to spend more than an hour on just his first five moves, looking for some deep tactical trap in White’s set-up. The wasted time would come back to haunt Black later in the game.
For his part, an over-confident Gukesh promptly gave back his edge on 9. d3?! (the space-grabbing 9. c5 begs to be played here, as White’s misguided plan virtually hands the vital square to his opponent) a5! 10. b5 Nbd7, and, suddenly, White’s queenside is completely blocked, Black’s knights have prime central posts to occupy, and Gukesh is well behind in development.
White proceeded to squander his advantage on the clock by spending more than an hour just on his next move, the middling and obvious 11. g3!?, because, as he said later, he mistakenly thought he and his team had uncovered some secret, winning idea in this line that he just couldn’t remember.
Black misses a clear chance to build on his advantage on 14. Qf4 Rd8 15. Rd1, when the simple plan of 15…e6! 16. Nd2 Bd6, followed by castling kingside, puts heavy pressure on White in lines like 17. Nd2 Nexd3 18. Qg4 f5 19. Nxd6+ Rxd6 20. Qh5+ g6 21. Qe2 Nxc1 22. Raxc1 0-0. Instead, on the game’s 15…g6?! 16. a4! h5 17. b6!, White clears a way for his dark-squared bishop into the game, while offering a position pawn sacrifice that will give White’s rooks have play down the b-file.
The White knight takes a circuitous route to finally get into the action, but by 22. Nc2 Qxb6?! (an extra pawn may not be worth all the positional chips White collects here, as the pressure on the long diagonal coupled with the doubled rooks on the now half-open b-file leads to Ding’s downfall) 23. Qab1 Qc7 24.Rb5 0-0 25. Na1! Rb8 26. Nb3, and now the defensive demands of the position prove too much for Black in the limited time he has until time control at Move 40.
The end comes swiftly and brutally: 26…e6? (Rd6, giving the Black knight another defender, was the stouter choice; e.g. 27. Nc5 Bg7 28. Rdb1 Nb4 29. Nxb7 Re6 30. Qf3 Re5 and Ding can fight on) 27. Nc5 Re7 28. Rdb1?! (see diagram; an inaccuracy in time pressure from the challenger that could have proved costly — Black is simply down a pawn in a bad position after 28. Nxb7! Rxb7 29. Qxc6 Qxc6 30. Bxc6 Ra7 31. Bg2) Qc8?? (losing at once, while 28…Nb4! 29. Nxb7 Bf8 held out real survival chances in lines such as 30. Rb3 e5 31. Rxa5 Nsc3 32. Qxd3 Rxb7 33. Rab5 Rxb5 34. axb5 Re6) 29. Qxc6!, and the double-pin brings instant resignation.
Black is hopelessly down on material after either 29…Rxc6 30. Bxc6 bxc6 31. Rxb8+ or 29…bxc6 30. Rxb8 Qxb8 31. Rxb8+ Kg7 32. Bxc6.
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The loss could have been fatal to the champ’s title defense hopes. But as he showed in winning his epic championship match with Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023, the soft-spoken Ding is at his most dangerous right after a painful loss.
Once again, Gukesh surprises his opponent with an unexpected defensive line in this English Opening, but White this time responds with clear, logical development plan, while Black flounders in search of a plan. Gukesh said after the game that one painful positional oversight came on 17. Qd2 Bg6? 18. d4 (this freeing move brings White’s well-placed pieces, including that powerful bishop pair, to life), when he realized his planned 18…exd4 is met by the material-winning 19 Bf4!.
Ding’s subsequent play, according to the engines, is nearly impeccable. He seizes a clear advantage on 22. Ne2 Bg5?! (Na5 23. c5 Nbc4 at least keeps this knight in the action) 23. Nf4 Bxf4 24. Bxf4 Rc8 25. Qc3! (keeping the knight out of a5) Nb8 26. d5, and with Black’s e-pawn destined to fall and his pieces pushed back, White’s game is already close to winning.
Collecting two pawns as he pushes forward, White’s rout is complete on 35. Re7 Qb5 36. d7 Rc4 37. Qe3 Rc2 38. Bd6! (with the devastating threat of 39. Re8) f6. Ding finishes in style with 39. Rxg7+!. Black resigned as checkmate is on the horizon in lines such as 39…Kxg7 40. Bxf8+ Kxf8 41. d8=Q+ Qe8 42. Qxf6+ Qf7 43. Qee7+ Kg8 44. Qd8+ Qf8 45. Qdxf8+ Kh7 46. Q8g7 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Gukesh-Ding, FIDE World Championship, Game 11, Singapore, December 2024
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. a3 Bg4 6. exd4 cxd4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Qc7 9. d3 a5 10. b5 Nbd7 11. g3 Nc5 12. Bg2 Nfd7 13. O-O Ne5 14. Qf4 Rd8 15. Rd1 g6 16. a4 h5 17. b6 Qd6 18. Ba3 Bh6 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Qe4 Nc6 21. Na3 Rd7 22. Nc2 Qxb6 23. Rab1 Qc7 24. Rb5 O-O 25. Na1 Rb8 26. Nb3 e6 27. Nc5 Re7 28. Rdb1 Qc8 29. Qxc6 Black resigns.
Ding-Gukesh, FIDE World Championship, Game 12, Singapore, December 2024
1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 d4 5. O-O Nc6 6. e3 Be7 7. d3 dxe3 8. Bxe3 e5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Re1 h6 11. a3 a5 12. h3 Be6 13. Kh2 Rb8 14. Qc2 Re8 15. Nb5 Bf5 16. Rad1 Nd7 17. Qd2 Bg6 18. d4 e4 19. Ng1 Nb6 20. Qc3 Bf6 21. Qc2 a4 22. Ne2 Bg5 23. Nf4 Bxf4 24. Bxf4 Rc8 25. Qc3 Nb8 26. d5 Qd7 27. d6 c5 28. Nc7 Rf8 29. Bxe4 Nc6 30. Bg2 Rcd8 31. Nd5 Nxd5 32. cxd5 Nb8 33. Qxc5 Rc8 34. Qd4 Na6 35. Re7 Qb5 36. d7 Rc4 37. Qe3 Rc2 38. Bd6 f6 39. Rxg7+ Black resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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