Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Singapore City
The Thinker is a landmark sculpture created by French master Auguste Rodin in 1904. It shows a man in a thinking mood, seated in a semi-crouched position. His right elbow is resting on his left knee and the palm is supporting the chin. It’s a significant piece of work in the history of sculpting. Near the venue of the World Chess Championship, one can spot The Thinker, installed inside a mall.
In a way, it is symbolic. At Resorts World Sentosa, where the match between D Gukesh and Ding Liren is taking place, one can find the players in a similar pose. Of course, the settings are different, but the mood and body postures of the players are quite like that famous work of art. They concentrate hard, contemplate moves for hours and embody that statue in every sense.
It was no different in the 13th and penultimate game of this contest. The players thought and thought and then came up with another draw, the ninth in 13 games which left them level on points — 6.5-6.5. The world has admired The Thinker for over a hundred years now. Nobody knows what the outcome of his thoughts was. That’s exactly where this match stands at the moment.
The pattern, if one looks back at this World Championship duel, was eerily similar. Gukesh was slightly ahead according to the position on the board and way ahead on the clock. After 10 moves, the Indian had an hour and 54 minutes. Ding had an hour and a minute. For practical purposes, things were pointing towards a win for the Indian with white pieces. However, by the 16th move, the players were back even on time.
Ding is king when it comes to time and crisis management. He has played this catch-up game almost throughout this match. In almost every game, barring a couple of them perhaps, he has fought the clock and his opponent. Invariably on almost every occasion, he clawed his way back. There has been a certainty and inevitability to this. He fights back when his back is against the wall.
In the 14th and last game in the classical format, the defending champion from China will have white. It gives him a slight advantage, considering that he was a point down after the 11th game. He not only came back by winning the 12th, but also defended with black with a fair amount of assurance in the 13th. He is showing why he is the world champion.
For Gukesh, it will be an uphill task. He will have to erase memory, get everything that has gone by out of his system and reboot. Being an 18-year-old, up against the reigning champion with black in the last game of the World Championship, he will feel the pressure. Even if by a small margin, the odds will be against him. The Thinker in him will have to be at its best in the last game.