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1.c4 14 e5 6 2.Nc3 23 Bb4 8 3.Nd5 32 Be7 7 4.Nf3 3:34 d6 8 5.g3 2 c6 28 6.Nxe7 2:31 Nxe7 6 7.Bg2 6 f6!? 6 An amazing concept like in the previous game. Black protects the central e5 point and is intending to go for a broad centre with d6-d5. 8.0-0 13:53 Be6 8 8...0-0 9.d3 Be6 10.b4 Qd7 ½-½ Aryan,C (2634)-Theodorou,N (2619) FIDE Grand Swiss Douglas 2023 (4) 9.b3 6:34 d5 8 10.Ba3 1:45 0-0 2:18 11.Rc1 2:45 a5 5:57 12.Ne1 4:21 Re8 10:35 13.f4!? 9:46 Hypermodern opening at its best, White has not pushed the central pawns, but tries to undermine Black's centre with his flank pawns. exf4 3:38 14.Rxf4 3:11 dxc4 2:13 15.bxc4 12:10 Giving up both central pawns in consequtive moves to create a very concrete play. Ng6 2:02 16.Re4 3 Na6 8:33 17.Nc2 15:30 Qc7 10:23 17...f5!? 18.Nd4 3:56 Bf7 45 19.d3 5:03 Ne5 12:34 20.Nf3 6:29 Ding was playing for stability more than anything else and was welcoming exchanges. Nd7 7:44 Black responds to a retreat with a retreat in order to retain pieces on the board. This was not expected by Leko at all. He felt this gives White time to stabilise. 20...Bg6! Leko was expecting this with a very comfortable position for Black. 21.Rxe8+ 2:12 Rxe8 6 22.Rb1?! 2:04
outwardly it looks like preventing Black's b5 break, but ironically it makes it stronger! It remains to be seen if Ding did not expect Black's response by not considering the intermediate Qb6+ move 22...b5! 1:28 23.cxb5 6:10 Qb6+ 25 24.Kf1 29 cxb5 30 25.Bb2 56 Bxa2 3:17 26.Bd4 5      
As Ding pointed out, this move was natural but also based on a miscalculation. He did not expect that Black will walk into a self pin with his knights to retain his material advantage. 26...Nac5? 6:57 While it is difficult to understand that this move loses the advantage while the other knight moves retains it, we can nevertheless try to think which move suits in terms of logic.The knights defending each other(Khokki Ghoda) are not good units in terms of solidity. The problem as I understand is because if one of the knights are attacked, the other knight it defends also loses support, especially with pawns, or sometimes Bishops using pins.Apart from this in this position, after the knight walks into a self pin Black needs to think how to get reinforcements to support it. White would double on the c-file and attack the the knight on c5. Black would have to support the same with ?c8, and this walks into another pin and the Rook on c8 is unsupported. To support the Rook, Be6 is an option, but for this the c8-h3 diagonal should be open and not blocked by the knight on d7! This would show that retaining the knight on a6 keeps black more coordinated.I would also feel the knight being on d7 would invite Bh3 by White at some point, but it is perhaps not relevant at this point. Better is 26...Ndc5 27.Rc1 Bd5! apparently this is very strong,Black is going to support the knight with Rc8 and get his rook to c7 next and White cannot make any use of the pin. 27...Be6 28.Qc2 28.Bg1 threatening d4-d5, but here too Black can wriggle out with Qd6 or 28...Bb3 29.Qe1 b4 30.Qf2 Bf7 Now that the bishop is on g1, this works well for Black, his connected passed pawns decide. 29.Nd4 Bd7 28...Rc8 29.Bg1 Qb8-+ 28.Qc2 Rc8 29.Be3 29.Bg1 Qb7 30.d4 Nb4!-+ Showing that the knight on a6 was not placed on a worse square after all! 29.Bh3 Rc7-+ 29...Qe6 30.Bf2 Nb4-+ 26...Qb8 27.Ra1 regains back the pawn. 27.Rc1 48 Bb3 6:40 This was the move that Gukesh thought was winning for him.As he admitted he missed White's next move. According to Gukesh if he had seen White's response he would have probably gone back to analysing Nac5 instead of Ndc5. 28.Qe1! 1:01       Bringing the Queen over to f2 to put pressure on c5. 28.Qd2 b4-+ 28...Be6? 7:11 Apparently this even tilts the balance in White's favour. A typical feature of such complex positions. Black can still maintain the equilibrium with 28...a4!= keeps the balance.The passed pawns are pushed instead of supporting the knight. 29.Qb4 29.Qf2 a3 30.Bxc5 Nxc5 31.Qxc5 Qxc5 32.Rxc5 a2 33.Rc1 b4-+ 29...Na6 29...Rc8? 30.Bh3+- 30.Qxb3+ axb3 31.Bxb6 Nxb6 32.Rb1 White regains the pawn. Nd5= 29.Qf2!± 18       Rc8 2 30.Be3! 6 threatening d4 and d5, is a nice resource. Rc7 6:17
31.Nd4 14 31.Ne1!± This essentially guards a check on c1 and renews the threat of Bf4. This retreating move is especially difficult when short of time. What Ding chose was the natural move. But this move would have given White a serious advantage! Bf7 32.Bf4 Ra7 33.Bh3! This exploits the problem of ?ac5! Be6 34.Bxe6+ Qxe6 35.Be3 and White wins material. 31.Bf4 Ne5 32.Nxe5 fxe5 33.Bxe5 fails to the brilliant resource Nxd3-+ or 33...Ne4-+ 31...Bf7! 7:46
32.Nc6! 25       Rxc6 25 33.Bxc6 4 Qxc6 3 34.Bxc5 5 h6 1:47 While this was also asessed by the computer to be a sizeable advantage for White. In practical terms with White's king being unsafe and the play on light squares, this felt not at all easy and Ding was completely fine with a draw here, it seemed during the game. 35.Ke1 37 b4 30
36.Qd4 1:52 Ne5! 3:14 37.Kd2 1:56 Qg2 53 38.Qf2 8 Qd5 38 39.Qd4 6 aiming for Qxd5. Qg2 9 40.Qf2 0 Qd5 0 41.Qd4 34 Qa2+ 9:03 It was shocking to many that Black was the one to avoid the repetition once again, but again in practical terms both Black and White thought there was no risk and that being exchange down was merely formal and attacking chance comensate the material deficit. 41...Qg2= Black could have forced a repetition for the third time and forced the draw. 42.Rc2 37 Qe6! 8 43.Qd8+ 10:06 Kh7 14 The position is equal. 44.Qxa5 6 b3 1:19 45.Rc1 5:19 Qd5 7:16 46.Qb4 3:08 Qg2 2:42 47.Qe4+ 4:01 White forces the draw. Qxe4 6 48.dxe4 2 b2 5 49.Rb1 1 Threatens to win with Kc3! Ba2 10 50.Rxb2 1 Nc4+ 4 51.Kc3 2 Nxb2 6 Weighted Error Value: White=0.15 (very precise) /Black=0.16 (very precise) . Mistake: White=4 Black=3 Inaccurate: White=2 Black=2 OK: White=14 Black=17 Best: White=4 Black=9 Strong: White=2 Black=3 Brilliant: White=1 --- ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2728Gukesh Dommaraju2783½–½2024A21WCC Match 20248.1
Euwe,M-Alekhine,A-½–½1935A20Ch World (match)18
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