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!