[Event "WCh 2024"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Site "Singapore SIN"] [Round "10.1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2024.12.07"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2783"] [PlyCount "72"] [GameId "2120272729084847"] [EventDate "2024.11.25"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 {A London, as in game 6, but there he started with 2.Bf4.} e6 4. e3 c5 5. Be2 {The fourth most popular move, but very far behind the top two moves, 5.c3 (#1 by a long way) and 5.Nbd2.} (5. c3 {was played in the earlier game.}) 5... Bd6 6. dxc5 Bxc5 ({Black has also tried} 6... Qa5+) ({and} 6... Bxf4 7. exf4 Qa5+ {.}) 7. c4 {Down to two predecessors in the database, but after 9.Nc3 the players will return to relatively mainstream theory.} O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nh5 {After half an hour, Gukesh decides to punish White for developing the bishop to an active square.} (10... a6 {is the most common move overall, keeping White's knight out of b5 (and thereby keeping White's pieces from invading on d6 or c7) while preparing ...b5 (though for that the knight would probably be better on d7 than on c6).}) (10... Qe7 {is another common move, clearing d8 for the f8-rook while preparing a possible ...e5.}) 11. Bg5 (11. Ne4 {has been played several times and might be White's best move.} Nxf4 12. Nxc5 Qe7 (12... Ng6 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Rfd1 $14 {1-0 Sedlak,N (2401)-Kovacevic,A (2479) BIH-chT 22nd Neum 2024 (4.1) White's edge is meaningful, as Black will have a hard time developing his queenside without making concessions.}) 13. exf4 Qxc5 14. Rc1 Qf5 15. g3 Rd8 {½-½ Alzola,E (2393)-Pezo,E PER Biella Memorial sf-C email ICCF email 2007 White is the slightly more comfortable side in this roughly equal position.}) (11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. Bc7 Rd7 13. Be5 Nf6 $11) 11... Be7 (11... Qxd1 $146 12. Rfxd1 h6 $11 {may be even better.}) 12. Ne4 (12. Qxd8 $146 Bxd8 $1 13. Rfd1 f6 14. Bh4 g5 15. Bg3 Nxg3 16. hxg3 Kf7 $11) 12... Nf6 (12... Qxd1 13. Rfxd1 f6 14. Bh4 g5 $11) 13. Nxf6+ $146 {Already more or less offering a draw. The game has hardly begun, and it's already over.} (13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Qc2 Be7 15. Rfd1 Bd7 $1 $146 {should equalize. White can eliminate both Black bishops and penetrate with his rook to the 7th rank, but even then it's equal after} 16. Nfg5 Bxg5 17. Nxg5 Qxg5 18. Rxd7 Rac8 $1 19. Rxb7 Na5 20. Rb4 Qe5 21. Rb1 Qc5 22. a3 Nxc4 23. Rc1 Qe5 24. Rxc4 Rxc4 25. Qxc4 Qxb2 $11) 13... Bxf6 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Bxf6 gxf6 {Ding would be hard pressed to beat an ordinary titled player from this position, let alone someone like Gukesh. But then again, he's not trying to at this point. The rest of the game is about finishing a painting - a color-by-numbers picture we might entitle "Professional Draw".} 16. Rfd1 Bd7 17. Rac1 Be8 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Kf1 Kg7 20. a3 f5 21. Ke1 Kf6 22. Be2 Ne7 23. g3 Rc8 24. Rxc8 Nxc8 25. Nd2 Nd6 26. Nc4 Nxc4 27. Bxc4 Bc6 28. f4 b6 29. Kd2 Ke7 30. Kc3 Kd6 31. b4 f6 32. Kd4 h6 {The painting is finished, and all that's left is to make it official.} 33. Bb3 Bb7 34. Bc4 Bc6 35. Bb3 Bb7 36. Bc4 Bc6 {Not much of a game, but as the match nears the finish line the players' aversion to risk is growing exponentially.} 1/2-1/2