The 18-year-old challenger from India, Gukesh D, scored a huge win this afternoon to level the match score at 1.5-1.5. Armed with excellent opening preparation, and full of confidence, Gukesh trapped one of Ding Liren’s minor pieces and it was smooth sailing from then on.
Gukesh was calm as a cucumber after the game, but one could sense he was content. “It feels great. For the past two days I have been very happy with my play and today I managed to outplay my opponent, which was very nice. I was prepared until move thirteen, I guess he was trying to remember something, but maybe he mixed up at some point. My position after g5, with this plan f3-e4, seems very shaky for him,” he shared after the game.
The afternoon started with the traditional ceremonial move, performed by Mr Olivier Lim, Chairman of the Singapore Tourism Board, introduced by master of ceremonies Maurice Ashley with his usual flair.
Although Gukesh has played most of the main openings during his career, 1.d4 has always been his main weapon. Most of the commentators and pundits, myself included, expected him to repeat 1.e4, but resident commentator GM David Howell offered an alternative explanation.
“In a 14-game match you have seven White games, so you do have time to throw out some different ideas and test what your opponent has prepared,” was Howell’s reasoning. “Alternatively, maybe his team has drawn a blank against the French defence and need some time to come up with something there.”
Both players fired out their initial opening moves in the Exchange Variation of Queen’s Gambit Declined, following the 2023 Dusseldorf FIDE World Rapid Team Championship game between Kramnik and Erigaisi. Gukesh had studied that game in his preparation for today: “I remembered the game, and also that Kramnik had a huge advantage in the middlegame after a blunder by Erigaisi.”
Meanwhile, it seemed that Ding Liren was struggling with his memory – after just thirteen moves he was already more than an hour behind on the clock. “This line came as a surprise totally. After 7.h3 I had no knowledge at all,” Ding Liren admitted.
Capturing the pawn en prise on b3 would have been extremely dangerous (Erigaisi saved the game by the skin of his teeth) so Ding Liren opted for development with 13…Nbd7 followed by the impressive find 14…Rg8!
However, he spent thirty-five minutes of his two hours to accurately calculate all the consequences of his decision. “It doesn’t seem a comfortable position for Black. He has spent a lot of time calculating the different options to get to this position,” explained former World Champion Vishy Anand in the commentary booth. “It’s the computer effect – a position like this can end up being very sharp.”
Gukesh went into the tank and nearly forty-five minutes to find the idea 14.Nd2 and 15.g5 leaving black’s knight stranding on the side of the board. GM Howell compared the situation to the first game: “I am getting huge déjà vu from game one - once again he has aggressively pushed his g-pawn, somewhat overextending, and he also has some weaknesses on the queenside, albeit with no queens on the board.”
But this time his plan worked! Although Ding seemed to have a comfortable position, there was the lingering danger of losing the “trapped” bishop on c2.
The key position arose in a tense queenless middlegame on move 18. Ding’s light-squared bishop was compromised on c2, dangerously close to being trapped.
Put yourself in Ding’s shoes with the Black pieces. Would you play the aggressive 18…Rh5 attacking the pawn on g5 or 18…Bf5, getting your bishop out of the danger zone, or even 18…Be7, developing your last minor piece?
Ding chose the aggressive 18…Rh5, attacking another pawn. “I knew my bishop on c2 was a weakness so I tried to come up with some idea to save it. I calculated a long line with 18…Be7, and I thought I was worse. Now I see that it’s not so clear, according to the computer. In the line that I played with 18…Rh5, I missed his move 23.Ne2,” he explained his miscalculation.
After 19.e4! trapping the bishop, engine suggests that 19…Ne6 would have offered more chances to defend than 19…dxe4 but the position was already quite difficult. A piece down for two pawns, with ten minutes on the clock against forty, things were looking very bleak for the champion.
“I still see some hope for Ding Liren, but only if he is able to swap a lot of pawns, and that doesn’t seem easy,” argued co-host IM Jovanka Houska.
Gukesh wrapped the game up on move 37 – Ding Liren officially lost on time, but his position was already beyond repair.
This win marked Gukesh’s first classical victory against Ding Liren, and the challenger was understandably very happy: “It’s always nice to win a game against such a strong opponent. I think it means more that I got a win in the World Championship.”
Ding Liren’s final words lead to believe that he definitely wasn’t done yet and would be capable of bouncing back: “If I get such a position in the game, I need to press for a win.”
The players will enjoy a well-earned rest day tomorrow. The fourth game of the match will take place on Friday, November 29, at 5 PM local time in Singapore, with Ding Liren playing White.
FACT SHEET, Game 3, FIDE World Championship:
White: Gukesh D
Black: Ding Liren
Result: 1-0
Game length: 37 moves
Opening: Queen’s Gambit Declined
Variation: Exchange variation
Match score: 1.5-1.5
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)
Photos: Eng Chin An and Maria Emelianova
Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/
Full programme of side-events: worldchampionship.fide.com/events
About the event
Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, will face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.
The first of the fourteen scheduled games will take place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm. Gukesh will open with White. The match will be hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcasted live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.
