[Event "WCC Match 2024"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Gukesh Dommaraju"] [Site "Singapore"] [Round "2.1"] [Annotator "Sundararajan Kidambi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2024.11.26"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2783"] [PlyCount "46"] [GameId "2116424238235665"] [EventDate "2024.11.18"] [EventType "match"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] [TimeControl "40/7200:1800+30"] {[%evp 9,46,11,16,8,13,9,18,6,13,0,0,0,31,35,31,19,27,27,44,22,27,16,25,7,37,19,28,31,33,22,35,0,0,0,44,0,0,0,34]} 1. e4 $5 {[%emt 0:00:10] This was seen as a surprise by many. Perhaps Ding wants to keep surprising in every game? 1.d4 or 1.c4 was more expected from him to keep going to his core positions and press with a lead in his bag, and keeping control.} e5 {[%emt 0:00:07] Gukesh goes for the solid King pawn opening as befits a World Championship match.} 2. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 3. Bc4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} Bc5 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 4. d3 {[%emt 0:00:36]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} 5. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:06]} a6 {[%emt 0:00:50]} (5... d6 6. Na4 $5 {to win the Bishop pair being the idea}) 6. a4 {[%emt 0:00:17]} d6 {[%emt 0:03:15]} 7. O-O {[%emt 0:00:06]} h6 $5 {[%emt 0:05:35]} ({Kramnik suggested} 7... O-O {to be a very acceptable approach} 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Bg4 $5 (9... Nd4 $5)) 8. Be3 {[%emt 0:00:32]} Be6 {[%emt 0:00:25]} 9. a5 $5 $146 {[%emt 0:00:24] A very intriguing position, both sides are happy to allow themselves two sets of doubled pawns for themselves(one of them being isolated as well) but the other side is not interested in taking them!} (9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Bxc5 dxc5 11. Nd2 {Here Black has the option of castling long, and perhaps this was the idea behind Black's 7th move as Kramnik supposed.}) 9... Bxc4 {[%emt 0:07:46]} 10. dxc4 {[%emt 0:00:38]} O-O $5 {[%emt 0:04:21] Gukesh avoids dissimilar structure for this game, is this strictly his objective position based analysis or wanted to keep the solidity in today's game given the situation he started with a loss in the very first game.} (10... Bxe3 11. fxe3 {Interesting, Black too does not take to this. Was this influenced by yesterday's game or has it just to do with complete feasibility and acceptability of these kinds of positions.}) (10... Bb4 {Wins a pawn for Black.} 11. Nd5 Nxe4 (11... Bxa5 12. Nh4 Nxd5 13. cxd5 Nd4 14. Qg4 $1) 12. Qd3 Nc5 13. Qf5 Ne6 14. Qg4 $1 {is an interesting to way, where White keeps the initiative. The Bishop on b4 seems offside, and for this, White is okay to sacrifice one or two pawns.}) 11. Bxc5 {[%emt 0:00:47]} dxc5 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 12. b3 {[%emt 0:00:07]} ({Kramnik} 12. Qxd8 Rfxd8 13. Rfc1 $5 {is an interesting thought, proposed by Kramnik, White avoids placing his pawn on b3, this would mean that White need to have to contend with Black's ?xb3 at various points of time.}) 12... Qxd1 {[%emt 0:11:36]} ({Kramnik} 12... Qd6 $5 {is an interesting idea, to create a backward pawn on d6 in order to defend the unprotected pawn on c5.}) 13. Rfxd1 {[%emt 0:00:25]} Rad8 {[%emt 0:00:07] Gukesh was considerably down in time compared to Ding, but that was not a big deal as Ding was still in his preparation and was playing very quickly. Gukesh taking his time to understand the position showed proper approach to the position.} 14. Rdc1 {[%emt 0:09:32] Moving the rook away from the open d-file is a typical idea in such situations. But as it happened Ding Liren was not very sure of it in the press conference! The timing of the move was what he had in question.} (14. Ne1 $5 Rxd1 15. Rxd1 Nxa5 16. Nd3 Nd7 17. Nd5 c6 18. Ne7+ Kh7 19. Nb2 Nf6 20. Ra1 b6 21. f3 {was a line shown by Maurice Ashley as having shown by Anand in the press conference.White keeps the pressure despite being a pawn down due to his better coordination.Quite a deep variation!}) 14... Nd4 $5 {[%emt 0:27:32] played after 27 minutes thought! But Gukesh has most likely used his time to calculate the various options and ensure that he has a solid position everywhere.} 15. Ne1 {[%emt 0:13:18]} (15. Nxe5 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Rfe8 (16... Ne2+ 17. Kf1 Nxc1 18. Nc3 $1 {traps the ? on c1.}) 17. f4 Ne2+ 18. Kf1 Nxf4 $1 19. Nxf7 $11) 15... Rd6 {[%emt 0:00:35]} (15... g5 $5 {was a suggestion of Sadler, the weakening of the f5 square is not exploitable by White, and Black has a fine counterplay.}) 16. Kf1 {[%emt 0:03:00] White does not have the option of ?d3 as he has to contend with both ?xc2 and ?xb3 by Black.} g6 {[%emt 0:02:03]} (16... g5 $5 {was possible here too}) 17. Rd1 {[%emt 0:23:18]} Rfd8 {[%emt 0:04:05]} 18. f3 {[%emt 0:02:42]} Kg7 {[%emt 0:04:50]} 19. Kf2 {[%emt 0:16:08]} h5 {[%emt 0:05:41]} 20. Ne2 {[%emt 0:04:35]} (20. h4 $1 {was suggested by both Magnus and Kramnik as the way to continue for White. Not allowing the expansion on the kingside and make Black make a few more moves, which are not entirely obvious.Surprisingly Ding decided to repeat moves and call it a day.}) 20... Nc6 {[%emt 0:02:47]} 21. Nc3 {[%emt 0:04:30]} Nd4 {[%emt 0:02:16]} 22. Ne2 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 23. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:02]} Nd4 {[%emt 0:00:08] Weighted Error Value: White=0.11 (very precise) /Black=0.07 (flawless) . Inaccurate: White=2 Black=2 OK: White=4 Black=7} 1/2-1/2