Swayam Ubale
ICS Trainer

Game 6: World Chess Championship – Ding Liren v/s D Gukesh. 

Venue: Sentosa Resort, Singapore.

Date: 1^st December 2024.

Photo credit: Maria Emelianova

Significance of Game 6!

As we go back to the History of World Chess Championship Game 6 has always been Special because the ones who have Won game 6 have went on to become a World Champion, Starting from 1960, Mikhail Botvinnik vs Mikhail Tal, the famous knight sacrifice by Tal on move 21. The Game was so thrilling and the audience became so excited that the game was moved to a back room due to the Noise and excitement by the audience.

1972, Fischer v/s Spassky: it was the most famous game of the match as Fischer was an e4 player surprised Spassky by playing 1.c4, later it was transposed into a Queens Gambit. Later Fischer won the Game and also earned an applause from the Then World Champion Spassky.

2018, Carlsen v/s Caruana: Magnus had the white pieces and Caruana had the black pieces, Fabiano was seen pressing but there was no clear way, At last they agreed to a Draw. But to the Surprise in the post game analysis the Engine showed a mate in 30 moves after black played 68.Bc4.

2021, Carlsen v/s Nepomniachtchi: It was the Game 6 which bought Carlsen  the Lead in the World Championship, It is the Longest played world championship game which went up to 136 moves and lasted for 7 hours and 45 min.

2023, Ding v/s Nepomniachtchi: Ding had the white pieces in which he played the London System, It was the First time in a World Championship Match that this opening was played and later he won the game Equalizing the Score and went on winning the title of the World Champion.

2024, Ding v/s Gukesh.

The London System Continues to Surprise…

As now we know what significance the Game 6 holds, Now lets see what has happened in the current game 6, Ding played 1.d4 and surprised everyone with his opening choice that was the London System which he also played in the last World Championship and went on to win the Game. But little did everyone knew his team had a very deep opening preparation. Ding played on 6.Bb6+ switching the move order, instead of retreating the bishop to g3 which was played none other than Magnus Carlsen with the White pieces against Ding himself in the Tata Steel 2023 and the game had ended in a Draw. White played an interesting move which was 10.Qa3 attacking the pawn on c5 and Gukesh immediately responded with 10…Ne4 defending the pawn on c5. White went for 11.Nfd2 attacking the knight which has been defending the pawn on c5. Eventually a pair of  knights were traded off the board and white instantly grabbed the free pawn with 13.Qxc5 Gukesh within seconds responded with the best move 13…Qg6 attacking the weak g2 square, white responded instantly with 14.Nd2 followed by 14…Qxg2, 15.0-0-0 Qxf2, 16.dxe5 Rb8, 17.Nc4 was instantly played showing how much deep preparation did Ding’s Team had done it shows how much of the Importance it holds to have Great Seconds. 17.Be6 was played by black after taking a think of about 15 min.

A Psychological Battle!

Instead of having an edge in the position the World Champion surprisingly went in for a repetition and both repeated the moves twice, Ding played 26.Qd5 for the third time hoping that Gukesh will play Qe7 again and will settle for a Draw. 

But Gukesh played 26..Qh4 declining a draw the move played by him was a mistake but it was a Psychological Statement to Ding that I am not going for a Draw I am going to give a tough fight and not let the Tradition of Game 6 down by making a Quick Draw. On move 32…Qe2 was played and then Ding responded with the best move 33.R1d2 and was having a better position after that Gukesh responded with 33…Qf3 and now black is offering a trade because if white decides to trade Queens then the position would be equal. Ding instead of keeping the Queens on the board keeping pressure on Gukesh, White played 34.Kc2 and gave Black a chance to trade the Queens and Equalized the game. 

There was also a edge for the challenger Gukesh on move 36…e3 was played instead of that Kg7 was the best move intention to get the king to all the from g7-h6-h5-g4  all the way down and make a king walk. Later the game ended by a 3 fold repetition and all the dust was settled. In the post game conference when Gukesh was asked why did he refuse a draw in a slightly worse position he said, “I thought I always have a counterplay… It’s not playing for a win or anything, I just wanted to make a few more moves and see what happens” this shows his incredible fighting spirit. Ding on the other had showed us some incredibly deep preparation and amazed us!

Stay tuned to know what will happen in Game7!!

Swayam Ubale
ICS Trainer

Game 5: World Chess Championship – D Gukesh v/s Ding Liren.

Venue: Sentosa Resort, Singapore.

Date: 30/11/24

Photo Credit: FIDE

Opening: The French Saga Continues… 

All eyes were on Gukesh as he was going to open the Game 5 with the white pieces, he played 1.e4 and Ding immediately responded with e6 the French Defence which earned him the victory in the first game, surprisingly this time Gukesh chose the French Defence Exchange variation which had been only been played once in the World Championship Match between Capablanca v/s Alekhine, 1927, in which black won.

On move 8.Qe2+ Ding blocked the check with the unusual 8…Qe7 and offered a trade which the opponent accepted it and instead of recapturing the Queen with the Bishop he recaptured with the King! motive was to bring h8 rook to e8. Later after an exchange of a pair of rooks the game was calm. Both the players managed their running time on the clock well until Ding took 33min to make move 14… h6 forcing the bishop to retreat on h4 followed by 15…Nh5 making a way for the knight to move on f4 square. 

Middle Game: 

The Game was equal until move 22…Bxe5 and to keep the game equal white has to recapture on e5 with the rook but Gukesh recaptured the piece with the pawn which turned on the heat in the game as it was a mistake but the main question was did Ding realize Gukesh’s mistake? Yes he did realize the opponents mistake and immediately played the only move that keeps the    advantage alive with 23…Nd3 attacking the rook as well as the b2 pawn, white captured the knight as it was the only good move. After 25.f3 black responded with Nc4 white traded off the knights and entering in opposite colour bishop endgame.

Endgame: A wrong move and the game is Equal.

It was still not clear that if the game would end in Ding’s favor or a draw. On move 27…Bc6 played by Ding was not so strong instead to keep the position alive Be6 was the best move keeping the tension. After 27…Bc6  Gukesh immediately played the best move Rd4. 28…Bxf3 was followed by the youngster finding the only good move 29.Kf2 and Ding failed to find the only move which keeps the fire alive was Bh5 instead he plays 29…Bc6 which is now an completely equal position. White played 30.Rxc4. After few moves the rooks got traded and we get into a opposite color bishop ending and after repeating moves both players agreed to a draw!   

One thing to learn from this game is how calm and composed the Challenger D. Gukesh was even after making a mistake he did not let the game go in favor of the opponent, he remained patient and did not let his past decision affect the remaining game, All he was doing is to look for good moves. And to learn from the World Champion Ding Liren is that no matter what others are saying about your form, doubting your abilities but in the end you always prove them wrong not by responding them but letting your game do the Justice!

Tomorrow is an important game in World Chess Championship as it is the 6^th game because in the history of World Championship cycle the 6^th game is always a decisive one.

 Lets see what the Game 6 has in store for us Stay Tuned!