[Event "WCh 2024"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Site "Singapore SIN"] [Round "6.1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2024.12.01"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2783"] [PlyCount "92"] [GameId "2118052708709492"] [EventDate "2024.11.25"] 1. d4 {Ding's third different first move in three white games.} Nf6 2. Bf4 {Ding also played the London System in game 6 of his match with Nepomniachtchi. He won that game; will it prove successful in game 6 of this match, too?} (2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 Bf5 7. c3 e6 8. Bb5 Bd6 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 h6 12. Ne5 Ne7 13. a4 a6 14. Bf1 Nd7 15. Nxd7 Qxd7 16. a5 Qc7 17. Qf3 Rfc8 18. Ra3 Bg6 19. Nb3 Nc6 20. Qg3 Qe7 21. h4 Re8 22. Nc5 e5 23. Rb3 Nxa5 24. Rxe5 Qf6 25. Ra3 Nc4 26. Bxc4 dxc4 27. h5 Bc2 28. Nxb7 Qb6 29. Nd6 Rxe5 30. Qxe5 Qxb2 31. Ra5 Kh7 32. Rc5 Qc1+ 33. Kh2 f6 34. Qg3 a5 35. Nxc4 a4 36. Ne3 Bb1 37. Rc7 Rg8 38. Nd5 Kh8 39. Ra7 a3 40. Ne7 Rf8 41. d5 a2 42. Qc7 Kh7 43. Ng6 Rg8 44. Qf7 {1-0 Ding,L (2788)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2795) World-ch Nepomniachtchi-Ding Astana 2023 (6)}) 2... d5 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bb5+ {From here we're more or less committed to the line through at least White's 14th move.} Nc6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Qa4 O-O 10. Qa3 Ne4 11. Nfd2 e5 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxc5 Qg6 14. Nd2 Qxg2 (14... exd4 {has also been tried, but 14...Qxg2 seems to be best.}) 15. O-O-O Qxf2 16. dxe5 (16. Rde1 $6 exd4 (16... Rb8 $143 17. Rhf1 Qxh2 18. Rh1 Qf2 19. Rhf1 Qh2 20. Rh1 Qf2 21. Rhf1 Qh2 {½-½ Aronian,L (2775)-Dominguez Perez,L (2754) Saint Louis Rapid 2022 (7)}) 17. Nxe4 Qh4 18. Qxd4 Bf5 $15) 16... Rb8 $11 {Gukesh was in prep to this point, but said that 17.Nc4 was unfamiliar to him. As it's the engine's top choice and the only White move to keep equality, I assume that there wasn't any other 17th move that was "familiar" to him.} 17. Nc4 Be6 $146 (17... Qf3 {(the engine's top choice)} 18. Rhf1 {½-½ Martin,S (2144)-Chronopoulos,A (2144) LSS SA-2022-0-00792 LSS email was the exciting conclusion of}) 18. Rd2 Qf3 19. Re1 Bxc4 20. Qxc4 {Ding was in prep to here.} Qf5 ({The engine suggests} 20... Rbd8 {, which no one would play without the engine's encouragement as the rook just went to b8 a few moves ago.}) 21. Qxc6 Qxe5 22. Qd5 $1 {White is a little better whether Black trades or not.} Qe7 (22... Qxd5 23. Rxd5 f5 24. c4 Rbd8 25. Ra5 Rf7 26. Kc2 $14) 23. Qd6 (23. Red1 $14) 23... Qg5 24. Qd5 Qe7 25. Qd6 Qg5 26. Qd5 Qh4 $5 {It's strange that Ding is offering a draw by repetition right out of his (successful) preparation, and Gukesh rejects it. This, in a nutshell, is the story of the match so far: Ding is arguably playing a little more accurately, but his caution is neutralizing the advantage of his generally more accurate assessments and play.} 27. Red1 g6 28. Qe5 Rbe8 29. Qg3 Qh5 (29... Qxg3 30. hxg3 Re5 $1 {is suggested by the engine, but it's very hard to assess such a position at the board. Gukesh's decision to keep the queens on is more practical.}) 30. Qf4 (30. a4 $14) (30. b3 $14) 30... Qa5 $5 (30... Qf3 $142 31. Qxf3 $2 (31. Qg5 $1 $14) 31... exf3 $15) 31. a3 $14 {/?} (31. Kb1 $1 $14 {/?}) 31... Qb5 $1 32. Rd4 $1 Qe2 33. R1d2 Qf3 34. Kc2 $6 {This completely lets Black off the hook; if anything, it's now White who must be careful.} (34. Qg5 $1 $14 {/?}) 34... Qxf4 35. exf4 f5 {This version of the rook ending is good for Black. The protected passer is great, and the possibility of ...g5 to create a second passer helps, too. White's rooks are more impressive here, but Black has the better pawns.} 36. h4 {Stopping ...g5.} e3 (36... Kg7 $1 37. Rd7+ Kh6 $1 {was a good option for Black. Gukesh rejected this, because after} 38. Rxa7 {he missed the intermediate move} e3 $1 {, when he's doing fine after} 39. Re2 Re4 {; indeed, White needs to find some good moves starting with} 40. Rd7 $1 {to maintain equality.}) 37. Re2 Re7 38. Kd3 (38. b4) (38. c4) 38... Rfe8 39. h5 {The point of this is to prevent Black's king from coming up the h-file.} gxh5 (39... Kg7 40. hxg6 hxg6 41. b4 Kh6 42. Rh2+ Kg7 43. Re2 {keeps Black's king from entering around the corner. On the other hand, he can still try to go up the g-file.} g5 44. fxg5 Kg6 {Black would seem to be ahead in the race, but White has a similar trick here, too.} 45. c4 Kxg5 46. Rg2+ $1 Kf6 47. Re2 $11 {White holds.}) 40. Rd5 h4 41. Rxf5 Rd7+ 42. Kc2 Kg7 43. Rg2+ {Another repetition is on the way, and this time Gukesh can't find a reason to reject it.} Kh8 (43... Kh6 $4 44. Rf6+ Kh5 45. Rg5#) 44. Re2 Kg7 45. Rg2+ Kh8 46. Re2 Kg7 1/2-1/2