New Delhi || 13-12-2024
18 years Indian prodigy Dommaraju Gukesh is the new FIDE World Champion and the 18th in the line of champions. Now he became the youngest ever in the history book.
In a dramatic and unexpected turn of events, when it seemed that the final game was heading for a draw and tiebreaks were scheduling for another evening in Singapore, the champion Ding Liren made a huge mistake on move fifty-five and was forced to resign three moves later. The final result of the match is 7.5-6.5 for Gukesh which was not in the card.
In the 14th and final game of the 2024 Google FIDE World Championship, Gukesh showed his calmness and became the new Champion.
It seemed as if history going towards last year’s thrilling 14-game classical World Championship match between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi, which finished in a 7-7 tie and was decided in the rapid tie-break. By winning the rapid game in great style, Ding became the 17th World Champion.
The game 14 started with Maurice Ashley introducing the players to the hundreds of fans in the venue. The ceremonial first move was performed by Professor Hsu Li Yang, a distinguished academic at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Beyond science, Professor Hsu is also passionate about chess. He achieved the title of International Master in 1994, and he currently serves as the President of the Singapore Chess Federation.
Gukesh’s opening preparation in this match has been top-class. He blitzed out the relatively new idea 6…Ng-e7, trying to improve on the main line 6…Bc5, which was played a couple of times by his Indian colleague GM R Praggnanandhaa. Ding decided to play it safe, trying to secure a small opening advantage without taking significant risks.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said during the match “Ding’s opening choice was expected, but Gukesh played a variation that nobody expected. Of course, it all depend on the motivation of the players and if Ding is ready for a big fight today, or he wants to play it safe: in any case, I think that there is a lot of life in this position.”
Dvorkovich was also very appreciative towards the hosting country: “Singapore is a beautiful location for anything, but for the World Championship in particular, as it combines all kinds of cultures and chess is exactly about that, bringing the cultures together.”
Ding Liren had the chance to play aggressively for a win and wrap up the match. However, the champion opted to secure a small opening advantage if possible, but without incurring in any major risks. As Ding’s rapid and blitz ratings (2776 and 2785) are much higher than Gukesh’s (2654 and 2615), most analysts considered the Chinese GM the favorite in tomorrow’s potential tiebreaks.
One of the two key moments of the game occurred just out of the opening. Instead of 14.Qe2, which according to engines might have promised a small but stable advantage, Ding Liren opted for 14.b3, which allowed Gukesh to immediately equalize.
From then onwards, the opponents maintained near-perfect accuracy of nearly 100%. They started exchanging some minor pieces and seemed content with the draw. Still, the challenger tried everything to keep the game going and get some winning chances, but it just didn’t seem enough.
On move twenty-nine, Ding decided to sacrifice a pawn, to ensure the exchange of queens and rooks. Although White was a pawn down, the game was clearly heading towards a draw.
Ding was holding his ground, but just when most of the analysts and journalists in the media center were already preparing their reports with the draw and tie-breaks, disaster struck for the champion.
In an effort to force a quick draw, he offered an exchange of rooks on f2 at an inappropriate moment. “I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder,” Ding explained in the post-game press conference.
And that was the moment of tears of joy for D Gukesh and heartbreak for Ding Liren, full of emotions with both players. The preparation for the coveted trophy, the prediction in the Media, big challenges everything coming to an end. The world has a new 18 year Champion Dommaraju Gukesh.
