[Event "WCh 2024"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Site "Singapore SIN"] [Round "14.1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "2024.12.12"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2783"] [PlyCount "116"] [GameId "2122016126583434"] [EventDate "2024.11.25"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 {No cagey bunker chess for Gukesh; he's playing active, optimistic moves.} 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O cxd4 (5... Nf6 {is more common, but the text is also a main line.}) 6. Nxd4 Nge7 {Very unusual.} (6... Bc5 7. Nb3 (7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. c4 Nf6 9. Qc2 {is also common, though in practice considerably less successful.}) 7... Bb6 8. c4 {is usual. Only now does Black generally play} Nge7 {.}) 7. c4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qd1 d4 10. e3 Bc5 $146 (10... e5 11. exd4 exd4 12. Re1+ Be7 13. Bg5 Be6 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Bxc6+ bxc6 16. Qxd4 O-O 17. Nc3 Rfd8 18. Qe3 Qf6 19. b3 h6 20. Qe5 Qxe5 21. Rxe5 Bh3 22. Rae1 Rd2 23. Rh5 Be6 24. Ra5 Bh3 25. Rh5 Be6 26. Rc5 Rc2 27. Ne2 Rd8 28. Nf4 Rdd2 29. Nxe6 Rxf2 30. Nf4 g5 31. Ne2 Rfxe2 32. Rxe2 Rxe2 33. Rxc6 Rxa2 34. Rxh6 Ra3 35. Rf6 Rxb3 36. Rf5 Rb1+ 37. Kf2 Rb2+ 38. Ke3 Rxh2 39. Rxg5+ Kf8 40. Ra5 Rg2 41. Kf4 Rc2 42. c5 a6 43. Ke5 Ke7 44. Kd5 Kd7 45. Rxa6 Rd2+ 46. Ke5 Re2+ 47. Kf5 Rf2+ 48. Kg5 Rc2 49. Rd6+ Ke7 50. Rd5 Ke6 51. Rf5 Rc3 52. g4 Rc4 53. Rf6+ Ke7 54. Rc6 Kd7 55. Rd6+ Ke7 56. Rd5 Ke6 57. Rf5 Rc1 58. Kh6 Rc4 59. Kg5 Rc1 60. Kf4 Rc4+ 61. Kf3 Rc3+ 62. Ke2 Rc4 63. Rg5 f6 64. Kd3 Ra4 65. Rg8 Kd5 66. Ke3 {½-½ Sarakauskas,G (2388)-Willow,J (2395) BCF-chT 2223 (4NCL) England 2022 (11.6)}) 11. exd4 (11. a3 {and the delightfully childish}) (11. Qh5 {were interesting alternatives.}) 11... Bxd4 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Nb5 Bb6 $6 {Had Ding been in form and in any sort of ambitious mood, this could have been the moment when we started to explain how Ding kept his title.} (13... e5 $142) 14. b3 $6 (14. Qe2 $142 $14 {/? followed by 15.Rd1 gives Ding a very pleasant position.}) 14... a6 15. Nc3 (15. Nd6 $5 Bd4 16. Bxc6 Bxa1 (16... Qxd6 $11) 17. Be4 $44) 15... Bd4 16. Bb2 e5 17. Qd2 Be6 18. Nd5 b5 {Ambitious - or at least as ambitious as one can get in a semi-sterile position.} 19. cxb5 $6 {Ding's ambition is unfortunately limited to making a draw in this game. To that end, this move is satisfactory. There's always the risk, however, that if you keep volunteering to be a punching bag your opponent will get in that one lucky punch and knock you out.} (19. Bxd4 Nxd4 20. f4 $14) 19... axb5 20. Nf4 {The trades begin.} exf4 21. Bxc6 Bxb2 22. Qxb2 Rb8 23. Rfd1 Qb6 24. Bf3 fxg3 25. hxg3 b4 26. a4 $5 {This wasn't necessary, but White is confident that he can make the same sort of draw he did yesterday. Rather than let the game keep going indefinitely, he'll swap off the queenside at the cost of his b-pawn and then hold the pawn-down ending with only kingside pawns.} bxa3 27. Rxa3 g6 28. Qd4 Qb5 29. b4 {No queens, no problems?} Qxb4 30. Qxb4 Rxb4 31. Ra8 Rxa8 32. Bxa8 {There are two differences between this ending and the one in game 13. Structurally, the difference is that Ding has an f-pawn rather than an h-pawn; that's in his favor. The second difference is that there are still bishops; this is in Gukesh's favor. Overall, Gukesh has better winning chances than he did yesterday, but only slightly - this too should be a fairly routine draw.} g5 33. Bd5 Bf5 {Black rightly avoids the trade of bishops - the draw would be very easy for White at that point.} 34. Rc1 Kg7 35. Rc7 Bg6 36. Rc4 Rb1+ {And Black certainly doesn't want to trade rooks - Ding would make that draw 10,000 times out of 10,000.} 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 {This brings the draw closer to fruition.} f5 46. fxg4 hxg4 47. Rb4 Bf7 48. Kf2 Rd2+ 49. Kg1 Kf6 50. Rb6+ Kg5 51. Rb4 Be6 52. Ra4 Rb2 53. Ba8 {This is fine, but...} (53. Bg2) ({and} 53. Bc6 {would have turned out better.}) 53... Kf6 {Here, unfortunately, Ding finds an idea that would be fine in almost any other position. (For example, with the bishop on c6 or g2 rather than a8.)} 54. Rf4 Ke5 {[#]The king gets where it needs to just in time - though Gukesh wasn't aware he was helping Ding fall into a trap.} 55. Rf2 $4 {Only Chigorin's 32.Bb4?? can compare with this when it comes to blunders in the final, decisive game of a World Chess Championship. Putting the rook on f2 is a decent idea in general, but not here! Interestingly, Gukesh didn't initially see the problem either and was considering 55...Rb3, but then he noticed. It is gloriously obvious when he saw it, and only then did Ding get it, clued in by Gukesh's reaction. There's no good way to lose the World Championship, but the only way this could have been worse is if Ding had been winning here rather than making a draw.} (55. Bg2 {is one sensible way of maintaining the status quo.}) 55... Rxf2 56. Kxf2 Bd5 {Oops. A rook trade was fine for White and likewise a bishop trade. Trading *both* sets of pieces is another story.} 57. Bxd5 Kxd5 58. Ke3 Ke5 {With Black to move it's a draw (basic opposition, kids; there's a reason we chess coaches harp on it), but with White to move it's an elementary win for Black--for Gukesh Dommaraju, the new World Chess Champion.} (58... Ke5 59. Kd3 (59. Kf2 Kd4 $1 60. Ke2 Ke4 61. Kf2 Kd3 $19 {and the king zig-zags its way to the g-pawn. Note that this position would be winning even without the f-pawn.}) 59... f4 60. gxf4+ Kxf4 61. Ke2 Kg3 (61... g3 {also wins, albeit slightly less straightforwardly.} 62. Ke1 $1 Ke3 $1 63. Kf1 Kf3 64. Kg1 g2 65. Kh2 Kf2 $19 {etc.}) 62. Kf1 Kh2 $19 {and the next three moves will be 63...g3, 64...g2(+), and 65...g1Q(+).}) 0-1