Chess Chess World Championship

Important win, but three more important games remain: Gukesh

December 9, 2024
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/atreyo/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7ce8ab31a51921461ae841c7a6797d86?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7ce8ab31a51921461ae841c7a6797d86?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Atreyo Mukhopadhyay</span></a>
D Gukesh
D Gukesh (PC: FIDE/X)

Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City

At around 8.45 pm Singapore time on Sunday, there was a huge roar outside the auditorium where the World Chess Championship is taking place. A few dozen Indians started screaming, “Goo..kesh, Goo..kesh”. It was spontaneous and contagious as a few more voices joined in. D Gukesh had just posted a massive win against Ding Liren in the 11th round game.

Not only does this hand him a 6-5 lead, but with three games to play, it also makes the Indian the favourite to dethrone the Chinese as the world champion of chess. It’s true that Ding will play with white in two of the last three games. It’s also a fact that he had come back thrice in last year’s contest to become the winner. Having said that, he will be under enormous pressure.

For the Latest Sports News: Click Here

“Obviously, it’s a very important win,” Gukesh said in response to a question from RevSportz at the post-game press conference. “I mean the last seven games ended in draws. I missed a couple of chances earlier. Even this game could easily have gone the other way. Considering that, it’s a very important win. But, there are still three more very important games coming up.”

Possibly relieved a bit and remarkably calm, Gukesh in a way got the monkey off his back. There was a pattern emerging in this duel. The 18-year-old challenger was calling the shots early in almost every game. Ding was going under extreme time pressure. However, barring the third game that he lost, the Chinese was always finding ways of staging a comeback.

For a very long time in this 11th round game, it was exactly the same. After 10 moves, Ding had 57 minutes left on the clock. Gukesh had an hour and 54 minutes. It was a clear advantage on that front for the Indian, although the position on the board was more or less equal at that point. Most people thought this was going to be the eighth consecutive draw.

Ding Liren and D Gukesh in a media interaction
Ding Liren and D Gukesh in a media interaction (PC: FIDE/X)

Then, a lot of things happened in the blink of an eye. With both players having to complete 20 moves each in about 20 minutes, it turned out to be a blitz game of sorts, as Gukesh himself pointed out. And as it so happened, Gukesh blitzed his opponent by making the correct moves. His 16th move to a4 turned out to be a masterstroke and changed the game. To find it at that stage was the sign of a player who can maintain composure and calculate accurately in a pressure-cooker situation.

“It was great to hear the fans cheering for me. Although I don’t pay attention to these things before the game, I did notice it after the game. It’s always nice to see people supporting me. I am grateful for all this. Since this has already been quite a long match, all these things give me extra energy. I’d like to thank all the fans,” said Gukesh.

He has to save every ounce of that extra energy to make this a dream come true. Ding will come hard at him and will try every trick in the book to make a match of this. He is a formidable opponent, who may be down a bit at the moment, but his experience will always be a handful in a contest of this magnitude. For Gukesh, it’s a question of holding his own for three more games.

Also Read: Film on Indian chess to chronicle the journey of extraordinary youngsters