Ding scripts a great escape, its 3.5-3.5
3rd December, 2024 by R R Vasudevan from Singapore
Hanging on to his dear life, World Champion Ding Liren (China) survived a precarious position to draw the seventh game against Challenger Gukesh Dommaraju (India) at the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024, presented by Google, at the Equarius Hotel Sentosa, Singapore here today. The scores remain tied 3.5-3.5 with seven games remaining.
The Neo-Grunfeld game that lasted 72 moves, turned out to be a heart-stopper in the end. With some excellent preparation from Team Gukesh, the Challenger played out his moves starting with 1.Nf3 with great confidence. In no time, he got a comfortable position out of the opening with a big cushion on time. Things looked gloomy for the World Champion, but Ding, known for his resilience, came with game saving moves time and again.
Especially after the first time control when move 40 got completed, black’s position looked weather-beaten with little hopes of survival. Ding’s last move before the time control 40…Ke5 made saving the game further difficult. But, when the Challenger missed 46.Ke2 Ding recovered and managed to walk on the thin ice before snatching the half point. In the post match press conference World Champion Ding Liren conceded, “I was beaten many times, first in the opening, then middle-game”.
It goes to the credit of 18-year-old Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju that on one occasion he went down to just 0.02 seconds on his clock, when many a heart would have missed a beat. That he maintained his poise and went all out for a win, speaks volumes of this young “Lion from Madras”, who gave edge-of-the-seat thriller feeling for those who were privileged to watch it LIVE.
The 7th game turned out to be longest game of this world championship so far, lasting close to five and half hours. It was like a slip between the cup and the lip, for the Chennai Grandmaster. But a graceful Gukesh showing maturity way beyond his age, concluded, “…I am happy about the fact that I outplayed my opponent quite easily in the opening. It’s a missed chance but also there are some positives to take…”, when Master of Ceremonies GM Maurice Ashley requested the press to wind up giving both the players a well deserved rest after a marathon game.
Hungarian Grandmaster and renowned commentator Peter Leko had this to say about the game today, “Insane action, we have witnessed a fantastic game” approving of the crowd’s round of applause. The 8th game begins at 5 PM Singapore time on Wednesday 4th December, 2024, with World Champion Ding Liren sitting behind the white pieces. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win this 14 game match, picking up the better part of the US$2.5 million total prize fund. The match presented by Google, will be broadcast LIVE with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.
GM Gukesh Dommaraju (2783) – GM Ding Liren (2728) 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. c4 c6 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 dxc4 8. e4 Bg4 9. Nbd2 c5 10. d5 e6 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 exd5 13. exd5 Nbd7 14. Nxc4 b5 15. Na3 Qb6 16. Bf4 Rfe8 17. Qd2 Rad8 18. Nc2 Nf8 19. b4 c4 20. Be3 Qa6 21. Bd4 Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1 Qxa2 23. Ra1 Qb3 24. Ra3 Qb1+ 25. Kg2 Rd7 26. Ra5 Qb3 27. Ra3 Qb1 28. Ra5 Qb3 29. Rxb5 Qd3 30. Qf4 Qxc2 31. Bxf6 Qf5 32. Qxf5 gxf5 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34. Rc5 Ng6 35. Rxc4 Ne5 36. Rd4 Nc6 37. Rf4 Ne7 38. b5 Kf6 39. Rd4 h6 40. Kf1 Ke5 41. Rh4 Nxd5 42. Rxh6 Nc3 43. Rc6 Ne4 44. Ke1 f6 45. h4 Rd3 46. Bd1 f4 47. gxf4+ Kxf4 48. Bc2 Rd5 49. Rc4 f5 50. Rb4 Kf3 51. Bd1+ Kg2 52. Rb3 Re5 53. f4 Re7 54. Re3 Rh7 55. h5 Nf6 56. Re5 Nxh5 57. Rxf5 Ng3 58. Rf8 Rb7 59. Ba4 Kf3 60. f5 Kf4 61. f6 Ne4 62. Bc2 Nd6 63. Rd8 Ke5 64. Bb3 Nf7 65. Rd5+ Kxf6 66. Kd2 Rb6 67. Bc4 Rd6 68. Kc3 Rxd5 69. Bxd5 Nd6 70. Kb4 Nxb5 71. Kxb5 a6+ 72. Kxa6 1/2-1/2
PICTURE COURTESY: FIDE (International Chess Federation)
