Gukesh vs. Ding, Game 10 Opening: The London System, 2nd edition

The tenth game of the 2024 Chess World Championship returns to the London System! This time, Ding Liren (White) played 2. Nf3 before 3. Bf4. Gukesh (Black) led it into the same position after move four as in game 6, but then Ding deviated with the unusual 5. Be2!?, and the game took on a less London-like character.

The players were playing reasonably quickly through nine moves, and were still following a number of games, most notably Rapport (!) vs. Aronian (2018). But then Ding’s tenth move prompted Gukesh to think for 26 minutes as it seems he has not played as he meant to, given White currently has a slight edge due to the difference between the bishops on f4 and c8.

The first 10 moves of game 10 are given below. Follow the game live on Lichess, or on stream with commentary by Grandmasters Anish Giri and Peter Leko.