Gukesh took risks to best a too-cautious chess champ

The shocking blunder that decided a tense world championship match didn’t come until Game 14’s Move 55, but one got the sense that the defending Chinese champion GM Ding Liren had psychologically surrendered his crown to young Indian challenger GM Gukesh Dommaraju in a small positional skirmish almost 30 moves earlier.

As chess fans the world over know by now, Gukesh is the 18th official world chess champion at the astonishingly precocious age of 18, defeating Ding 7½-6½ (3-2, with nine draws) in their $2.5 million title match in Singapore.

It may not go down as one of the great title bouts in chess history, but it has inspired an unusually large volume of commentary, on the varying quality of the games (Ding’s two wins were probably the best played of the match), the fragility of Ding’s mental and physical state, and whether either the ex-champ or the new champ would stand a chance if Norwegian world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen made a serious effort to reclaim the throne he voluntarily vacated last year.

But the match — and particularly the pivotal 14th and final game with the score knotted and a rapid playoff looming — did offer a compelling human drama on the pressures and inspirations that come with flesh-and-blood over-the-board play.

Despite the pre-match questions, Ding proved formidable at the board, doggedly defending some tough positions and bouncing back strongly after a devastating Game 11 loss to tie the match with a powerful Game 12 win.

But fortune favors the bold, and the young Indian repeatedly took risks in the match while the champ seemed to duck away from any move remotely risky or uncertain. Gukesh told GM Maurice Ashley in a very revealing post-match interview that, given his opponent’s modest play, “I felt a bit more freedom to push my luck a little bit.”

“From the initial few games, it was clear that my opponent was not taking up the chances he was given. [Ding] was doing great at defending tenaciously but he was not taking all of the chances I was giving him,” the new champ observed.

Cut to Game 14: Out of a relatively rare Queen’s Pawn Opening set-up (the openings prepared by both players in this match showed a satisfying degree of variety and creativity), neither player can claim a clear edge despite so many active minor pieces and a spirited fight for the center. By 25. hxg3 b4 26. a4 bxa3 27. Rxa3 g6, material is dead equal, with White having an outside passed pawn that could be an asset or a weakness depending on how Ding plays it.

But in a sequence that illustrates as well as any why he lost the match, White decides just to jettison the pawn in order to head into an ending in which only Gukesh enjoys any serious winning chances. Yes, after 28. Qd4?! (Kg2 h5 29. Rd3 at least forces Black to work to win the pawn) Qb5 29. b4?! (again, 29. Rd3 is tougher) Qxb4 30. Qxb4 Rxb4 31. Ra8 Rxa8 32. Bxa8 g5, the position is still very drawish, but Black is almost obligated to see if he can win with his extra pawn, and White has unnecessarily put all the pressure on himself to avoid the loss.

Tragically for White, his nerves were not up to the job: 53. Ba8!? (not a mistake, but the bishop heads for the one square it should avoid at all costs) Kf6 54. Rf4 Ke5 (see diagram; the king move has the subtle added benefit of covering the d5 square for the Black bishop) 55. Rf2?? (almost inexplicable in chess terms — Ding makes an elementary blunder in a still-level position with plenty of time on the clock; just shuttling the White rook along the fourth rank would have sealed the draw and sent the match into overtime) Rxf2 56. Kxf2 Bd5!, and Black simplifies down to a won pawn ending.

Had the White bishop been on virtually any other square, the fatal trade could have been avoided. Instead, on 57. Bxd5 Kxd5 58. Ke3 (Ke1 Ke5! — grabbing the distant opposition — 59. Kf2 Kd4 60. Ke2 Ke4 61. Kf2 Kd3 62. Kf1 Ke3 63. Kg2 Ke2 and White’s king must give way) Ke5, and White resigned the game and the match.

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India’s open and women’s teams just captured gold at the recent Olympiads in Budapest, and now Gukesh has followed in the ranks of Indian trailblazing superstar GM Viswanathan Anand in capturing the world title. The world is watching a new chess dynasty come into its own.

Luckily, the U.S. has a rising crop of its own Indian-American stars to help keep pace, including New Jersey’s Abhimanyu Mishra, who in 2021 set the new mark as the youngest grandmaster in history at the tender age of 12.

Closer to home, Northern Virginia expert Arnav Gupta, a student at Alexandria’s Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, tied for first in the 12th grade section of the recent 2024 National K-12 Grade Championships, held once again at Maryland’s National Harbor complex and once again attracting a massive, record-setting field of over 2,700 players.

Gupta appears to almost channel Gukesh in his critical Round 7 win over New York City master James Oh, basically holding the balance in a Rossolimo Sicilian for about 50-plus moves before his opponent finally beats himself with an unforced error.

Thus: 59. Qf2 Rc7 (Black’s pressure on the vulnerable d- and c-pawns is annoying, but White’s tactical solution has a fatal flaw; now 60. Qd2 Kg7 61. Ra1 would let the positional shadow-boxing go on a few rounds more) 60. Nd4? Qxd5 61. Nxf5 Qxf5 (forced, but, as it turns out, winning as well) 62. Rf3 Qh5! (guarding the bishop on f6 by pinning the rook on f3) 63. g4 Qh4! 64. Rxf6 (regaining the piece, but leaving the h3-pawn at the Black queen’s mercy) Qxg4+ 66. Kh2 (Qg2 Qxd1+) Re2, pinning and winning the queen. White resigned.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Ding-Gukesh, FIDE World Championship Match, Game 14, Singapore, December 2024

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nge7 7. c4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qd1 d4 10. e3 Bc5 11. exd4 Bxd4 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Nb5 Bb6 14. b3 a6 15. Nc3 Bd4 16. Bb2 e5 17. Qd2 Be6 18. Nd5 b5 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Nf4 exf4 21. Bxc6 Bxb2 22. Qxb2 Rb8 23. Rfd1 Qb6 24. Bf3 fxg3 25. hxg3 b4 26. a4 bxa3 27. Rxa3 g6 28. Qd4 Qb5 29. b4 Qxb4 30. Qxb4 Rxb4 31. Ra8 Rxa8 32. Bxa8 g5 33. Bd5 Bf5 34. Rc1 Kg7 35. Rc7 Bg6 36. Rc4 Rb1+ 37. Kg2 Re1 38. Rb4 h5 39. Ra4 Re5 40. Bf3 Kh6 41. Kg1 Re6 42. Rc4 g4 43. Bd5 Rd6 44. Bb7 Kg5 45. f3 f5 46. fxg4 hxg4 47. Rb4 Bf7 48. Kf2 Rd2+ 49. Kg1 Kf6 50. Rb6+ Kg5 51. Rb4 Be6 52. Ra4 Rb2 53. Ba8 Kf6 54. Rf4 Ke5 55. Rf2 Rxf2 56. Kxf2 Bd5 57. Bxd5 Kxd5 58. Ke3 Ke5 White resigns.

Oh-Gupta. 12th Grade Championship, National K-12 Grade Championships, National Harbor, Maryland, December 2024

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Qc7 8. a3 Nf6 9. b4 O-O 10. Bb2 Bg4 11. Nbd2 Nd7 12. Bc3 Rfe8 13. Qb1 Rad8 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Nxf3 cxb4 16. axb4 a6 17. Qb2 Nf8 18. Ra5 f6 19. Raa1 Ne6 20. Rad1 Qf7 21. Bd2 Rd7 22. Be3 Red8 23. Bb6 Ra8 24. Be3 Rad8 25. Rf1 Qe7 26. Qb3 Qf7 27. Qc3 Bf8 28. Rb1 Qe7 29. Kh1 Qf7 30. Nd2 Bg7 31. Nc4 Re8 32. Rbe1 Qe7 33. Qb3 Qf7 34. Qb2 Qe7 35. Qb3 Qf7 36. f4 exf4 37. Bxf4 Nxf4 38. Rxf4 Qe6 39. Ref1 Rf8 40. Qb1 Rdf7 41. Qd1 Qe7 42. c3 Qe6 43. R4f3 Rd7 44. Qc2 Rfd8 45. Nb6 Re7 46. Na4 Kh8 47. Nc5 Qd6 48. Qf2 Rde8 49. Nb3 Rd7 50. Qh4 Qe7 51. d4 b6 52. Ra1 Ra7 53. d5 cxd5 54. exd5 Qd6 55. Rd3 f5 56. Nd2 b5 57. Nf3 Rae7 58. Rad1 Bf6 59. Qf2 Rc7 60. Nd4 Qxd5 61. Nxf5 Qxf5 62. Rf3 Qh5 63. g4 Qh4 64. Rxf6 Qxh3+ 65. Kg1 Qxg4+ 66. Kh2 Re2 White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.