In an unexpected twist, reigning World Champion Ding Liren defeated the challenger Gukesh D. this afternoon in game twelve, echoing twelfth-game comeback win against Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 title match.
Even though he was initially taken aback by Gukesh’s opening approach, Ding managed to find his way and create a chess masterpiece, arguably one of the best games of his career. Let’s take a closer look at today’s game.
As usual, both players arrived a few minutes before 5pm and Gukesh took a moment to enter “meditation mode” for a couple of minutes, closing his eyes to focus on the game. Meanwhile, Mr. Zhu Jing, Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, performed the ceremonial first move.
For the second time in the match, Ding opened with 1.c4, the English opening. Gukesh immediately responded 1...e6, aiming for a Queen’s Gambit declined setup.
Unexpectedly, the champion thought for three minutes considering his options: maybe he was expecting a repeat of 1…e5, Gukesh’s game eight choice. He decided to go for a Reti setup, with a kingside fianchetto.
“With his move order, it seems that Ding has tried to side-step the …Bb4+ line in the Catalan. Maybe that is why Gukesh has played 4…d4 instead of 4…Be7, which would have permitted the traditional Catalan opening move 5.d4,” was GM David Howell’s reasoning in the commentary booth.
One of the key games in this variation was played in 2019 between Richard Rapport and Ni Hua in China - both of whom are seconding Ding in the match! In that game, Ni Hua played 7…0-0 instead of Gukesh’s 7…dxe3.
Both players developed their pieces logically and the position remained equal going into the middlegame. The champion was manoeuvring around, waiting for the best moment to break in the centre with d3-d4, while the challenger was trying to keep control of the d-file and keep his position together in what basically looked like a waiting strategy.
Arriving at the key moment, Gukesh decided to target Ding’s backward d3-pawn with the maneuver 16…Nd7 and 17…Nc5, but the champion anticipated this and struck with 18.d4!, sacrificing material for the initiative if necessary!
As he confirmed after the game, Gukesh already sensed that he was in big trouble. Opening the position was out of the question, given the activity of White’s pieces. 18…e4 played by the challenger was the lesser of many evils, but it didn’t matter - Ding was on a roll. He capitalized on his central pawns combined with his pair of bishops, steadily increasing his advantage.
The champion could have played the simple 26.Na7, winning the exchange and the game, but instead he went for the powerful 26.d5 with the idea 27.d6! crashing in. However, after the game, Ding acknowledged missing some tactics! After losing two pawns, Gukesh could have resigned, but he kept on in time trouble searching for some sort of defensive resource, that never came.
Put yourself in Ding’s shoes. Find the killer tactic that forced Gukesh to resign.
39. Rxg7+! and Gukesh capitulated, facing the inevitable checkmate 1-0
Despite suffering a major blow, Gukesh took it in stride. “Although I didn’t remember all the details, I was aware of the opening position. I thought I was quite comfortable after the opening but later on, I wasn’t sure what to do,” he explained after the game.
"In the second half of the match, I had chances in many of the games. Today was obviously a bad game, but I wouldn't draw too much from it. Bad games happen. But if you look at the second half overall, I think we are both playing better than the first half. 6-6 is overall the fair result, but since I was leading after yesterday, it is a bit disappointing to lose this game," he added.
Gukesh ended the press conference on a positive note: “Obviously it’s not pleasant to lose this game, but at least the score is tied – two more games are remaining, so let’s see,” the challenger concluded before he retired for the night.
A visibly happy Ding Liren reflected on his recovery in the postgame press conference: “Yesterday was a difficult game to deal with, but I tried to continue with my normal routine and be refreshed for this important game. Today I had a cup of coffee before the game, which helped me feel much more energetic, and also, I had some snacks to maintain my energy levels for the critical moment. I think I played a very good game and found some good moves.”
After twelve of the fourteen scheduled classical games, once again the match is tied 6-6. The players will enjoy their final rest tomorrow and the match will resume on Wednesday, December 11th at 5 PM local time in Singapore, with Gukesh playing White.
FACT SHEET, Game 12, FIDE World Championship:
White: Ding Liren
Black: Gukesh D
Result: 1-0
Game length: 39 moves
Opening: English Opening
Variation: Agincourt Defence
Match score: 6-6
Although the FIDE World Championship takes central stage, the local organizers along with FIDE have arranged a wide range of side events for all the fans coming to Sentosa for the match.
Today’s highlight was a screening of “The Thinking Game”, a documentary chronicling visionary scientist Demis Hassabis' relentless pursuit to crack artificial general intelligence, a journey of extraordinary perseverance.
Additionally, a Q&A session with five of Singapore’s Grandmasters—Wong Meng Kong, Wu Shaobin, Kevin Goh, Tin Jingyao, and Siddharth Jagadeesh—delighted spectators in the Fan Zone.
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)
Photos: Eng Chin An, Maria Emelianova and Singapore Open
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, 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 took place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm with Gukesh opening with White. Hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa the match is broadcast live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.
