Chinese world champion Ding Liren found just the right time to recover his shaky form, stunning Indian challenger GM Dommaraju Gukesh Monday with an impressive win with the Black pieces in the first game of their scheduled 14-game world title match in Singapore.
Ding, who has openly admitted to physical and psychological struggles since he bested Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi to take the title in 2023, overcame an opening surprise in a rare Steinitz French Defense side variation by his 18-year-old opponent, a deviation which forced the champ to burn up more than 20 minutes just on his seventh move.
If it’s any consolation to Gukesh, who is bidding to be the youngest world champion in history, the last player to lose an opening game in a world title match was fellow Indian superstar Viswanthan Anand in his 2010 title tilt with Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov. Anand bounced back to win the match.
Gukesh also gets a quick chance to redeem himself as Game 2 is set for Tuesday. The first player to 7½ points takes the title.
In a (very preliminary) assessment of Game 1, Black’s offbeat plan to run his a-pawn down the board to anchor a knight at the unusual post of b2 somehow works to perfection. Gukesh appears to lose the thread of the play somewhere around 18. Nxd4 Nb2! (the knight will prove surprisingly disruptive here, complicating White’s defense of his weakest point, the backward pawn on c4) 19. Qe3 Rc8 20. Rac1 Qc4 21. f5 (White clearly wants to be attacking on the kingside, but ends up spending the rest of the game playing defense on the other wing because of Ding’s forceful play) Qd3 22. Qe1?!, a move the engines do not like. Better here seems 22. Rc2 Qxe3 23. Bxe3 h6 — the trade of queens saps the force of White’s attack, but his position still looks defensible.
Black’s pieces flood the zone on 22…Bg5! 23. Rc2 Rc4 24. h4 Bf4, and White jettisons the c-pawn in a bid to ease the cramp on his position with 25. Qb1 Rxc3 26. Rxc3 Qxc3.
One last tactical resource for White (one that Ding acknowledged he had not seen) appears to fall just short on 29. Nxf4 Qxf4, when the tricky 30. Bc5 Qxg4 31. Qxh7! forces Black to find 31…Qd4+!! (Rxh7?? 32. Rf8 mate) 32. Bxd4 (Kh2 Qxh4+ 33. Qxh4 Rxh4+ 34. Kg3 Rh8, stopping the mate) Rxh7, preserving the two-pawn edge.
On 33. Qe3 Rxf1+ 34. Bxf1, Ding’s knight appears caught in an uncomfortable pin, but Black has things well in hand after 34…e5 35. Bxe5 Qxg4+ 36. Bg2 Bf5. White’s bishop pair never develop into a real attacking threat and on 41. Kg3 Qxa2 42. Be6+ Kh8, Gukesh, down three pawns and with the Black a-pawn ready to roll, tipped his king.
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As we wait to see how things play out in Singapore, let’s go back in time to the one world championship match that was played — at least briefly — in Washington, D.C.
The 1907 match between titleholder Emanuel Lasker and American star Frank Marshall, which opened in New York and was contested across a half-down American cities, was not exactly a cliffhanger: The great German champion won the first three games out of the box in New York en route to an 11½-3½ (8-0-7) match win, with the U.S. challenger failing to win even a single game.
As one of the sponsoring clubs for the event, the Washington Chess, Checkers and Whist Club won the right to host the ninth game of the match (a draw in which Lasker narrowly missed scoring his fifth win of the contest). According to an account by the U.S. Chess Center, the game was played at the District’s old convention center at 5th and L Sts. NW, and President Theodore Roosevelt entertained the two chess paladins at the White House.
Marshall had won the great Cambridge Springs Tournament of 1904 (two points ahead of Lasker) and the champ had last defended his crown more than a decade ago, but the difference in skill and chess understanding proved vast as the match went on. A world-class attacker with an imaginative flair, Marshall could not match Lasker’s well-rounded game and steadier nerves, his defensive and endgame prowess, and his incomparable understanding of the psychology of over-the-board combat.
A prime example was the match’s Game 3, played in New York. In a Queen’s Gambit, Marshall’s refusal to clarify the center and accept a modest but real positional advantage with 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Rfe1 leaves him floundering for an alternative plan while Lasker as Black steadily improves his position: 16. Qa4 Bb7 17. Qd1 (the multiple queen moves suggest White is not clear what his plan is) Rd6! 16. Qg4 Re8 19. Qg3 Rde6 20. Bf5 R6e7 21. f4 Bc8!, scoring another small positional win by trading off a bad piece for a good one.
Marshall’s trademark swindles helped him save a number of bad positions over his long career, but hoodwinking Lasker proved another matter altogether: 26. Kh2 Nh7 (sensibly activating the knight, but the engines already like the sharper 26… cxd4!? 27. exd4 f6 28. Ng4 Ne6 29. g3 h5 30. Nf2 Nxd4, with an edge) 27. Qh5 Nf6 28. Qf5 cxd4 29. exd4 (see diagram) — already down two points in the match, White sees a chance to steal a point if Black is careless: 29…Rxc3?? 30. Qxc8+!! Rxc8 31. Rxc8+ Kh7 32. Rh8+! Kxh8 33. Nxf7+ Kh7 34. Nxd6, winning.
Instead, the trapper is trapped on Lasker’s alert counter: 29…Ne4! 30. Nxf7!? (accepting Black’s poisoned offer, but probably worse was 30. Nd3 g6 31. Qe5 Qxe5 32. fxe5 Nxc3, and an endgame specialist of Lasker’s caliber is already close to a win) Rxf7 31. Qxc8+ Rf8 32. Qb7 Qxf4+ — White wins the exchange but his pieces are badly out of position as Black targets the lonely White king. Black has a perpetual check any time he wants it, while Marshall must play impeccable defense just to hold the draw — and proves not up to the challenge.
White falters despite being a full rook to the good: 37. Kh1 Nf3!? 38. gxf3 Qxh3+ 39. Kg1 Qg3+ 40. Kh1 Rf4 41. Qd8+? (White’s salvation lies in giving up his queen and keeping his two rooks, so better now was 41. Qh5! Rh4+ 42. Qxh4 Qxh4+ 43. Kg2 Qg5+ 44. Kf2 Qd2+, with a likely draw) Kh7 42. Rf1?? (the draw was still to be had with 42. Rb2! Qxf3+ 43. Rg2 Qe4 44. Rcc2 Qe1+ 45. Kh2 Rh4+ 46. Qxh4 Qxh4+ 47. Kg1 h5 49. Rcd2) Rf5! (Lasker isn’t content with winning the queen; he wants the king) 43. Qe8 Qh4+, and Marshall resigned as it’s mate next move on 44. Kg3 Rg5 mate.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Gukesh-Ding, Game 1, FIDE World Championship Match, Singapore, November 2024
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nce2 Nc6 7. c3 a5 8. Nf3 a4 9. Be3 Be7 10. g4 Qa5 11. Bg2 a3 12. b3 cxd4 13. b4 Qc7 14. Nexd4 Nb6 15. O-O Nc4 16. Bf2 Bd7 17. Qe2 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Nb2 19. Qe3 Rc8 20. Rac1 Qc4 21. f5 Qd3 22. Qe1 Bg5 23. Rc2 Rc4 24. h4 Bf4 25. Qb1 Rxc3 26. Rxc3 Qxc3 27. fxe6 fxe6 28. Ne2 Qxe5 29. Nxf4 Qxf4 30. Qc2 Qc4 31. Qd2 O-O 32. Bd4 Nd3 33. Qe3 Rxf1+ 34. Bxf1 e5 35. Bxe5 Qxg4+ 36. Bg2 Bf5 37. Bg3 Be4 38. Kh2 h6 39. Bh3 Qd1 40. Bd6 Qc2+ 41. Kg3 Qxa2 42. Be6+ Kh8 White resigns.
Marshall-Lasker, Game 3, World Championship Match, New York January 1907
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Ne4 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Bd3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Nd7 9. Nf3 O-O 10. O-O Rd8 11. Qc2 Nf8 12. Ne5 c5 13. Rab1 Qc7 14. Qb3 b6 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Qa4 Bb7 17. Qd1 Rd6 18. Qg4 Re8 19. Qg3 Rde6 20. Bf5 R6e7 21. f4 Bc8 22. Bxc8 Rxc8 23. Qf3 Qd6 24. Rfc1 Rec7 25. h3 h6 26. Kh2 Nh7 27. Qh5 Nf6 28. Qf5 cxd4 29. exd4 Ne4 30. Nxf7 Rxf7 31. Qxc8+ Rf8 32. Qb7 Qxf4+ 33. Kg1 Qe3+ 34. Kh2 Qg3+ 35. Kg1 Nd2 36. Qxd5+ Kh8 37. Kh1 Nf3 38. gxf3 Qxh3+ 39. Kg1 Qg3+ 40. Kh1 Rf4 41. Qd8+ Kh7 42. Rf1 Rf5 43. Qe8 Qh4+ White 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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