From left, world chess champion Ding Liren, master of ceremonies Maurice Ashley and challenger D. Gukesh share a light moment at a post-game press conference in Singapore.
GAME 4 of the World Chess Championship saw everything from White winning to Black winning in a space of each move which is always surprising, especially at this level and in particular the World Championship.
Ding did mention in the press conference that he chose an opening that would surprise his opponent and that it worked well. He also said he recovered very well from the tough loss in game 3.
Let’s now take a look at the game where Ding had so many chances to win:
Ding – Gukesh
Game 4
WCC Singapore 2024
1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.b3 Bf5 4.Be2 h6 5.Ba3 Nbd7 6.0–0 e6 7.Bxf8 Nxf8 8.c4 N8d7 9.Nc3 0–0 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 c6 12.Nd4 Bh7 13.Qb3 Ne5 14.f4 Rc8 15.Nf3 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 d4 17.Ne2 dxe3 18.dxe3 Be4 19.Rfd1 Qe7 20.Bxe4 Nxe4 21.Nc3 Rfd8 22.Nxe4 Qxe4 23.h3 c5 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.bxc5 Qe5 [25…Rd2 26.Qxb7 Qxb7 27.c6 Qxc6 28.e4 Qxe4 29.Kf1 Qxg2+ 30.Ke1 Qe2#] 26.Qc2 [26.fxe5 Rd3 27.Qxb7 h5 28.c6 Rc3 29.Rd1 h4 30.Qc8+ Kh7 31.Qf5+ Kh6 32.Rd6+ f6 33.exf6 Rc1+] 26…Rd5 27.g3 f5 28.Kg2 Kh7 29.Qc4 Qd6 30.e4 Re5 31.exf5 Rxf5 32.Qe4 [32.cxd6 Rf8 33.Re1 h5 34.d7 Kh6 35.Re8 b5 36.Qe4 h4 37.Rxf8 g5 38.Rg8 gxf4 39.Qg6#] 32…Qd5 33.Qxd5 Rxd5 34.Kf3 Kg6 35.Ke4 Rd4+ 36.Ke3 [36.Kxd4 Kf5 37.Rb1 Ke6 38.Rxb7 a5 39.Rxg7 h5 40.Ra7 a4 41.Rxa4 Kd7 42.Kd5 Kc7 43.Ra7+ Kb8 44.Re7 h4 45.f5 Kc8 46.f6 Kd8 47.gxh4 Kc8 48.f7 Kb8 49.f8Q#] 36…Rd5 37.Ke4 Rd4+ 38.Ke3 Rd5 39.Ke4 Rd4+ ½ – ½
Game 5 saw Ding go back to playing the French Defense, something that is not popular in World Championships. Both players were fairly even up until move 25 where Ding could have taken some initiative to push for a win.
When asked in the press conference what he thought of his play, Ding replied he thought that his rook had activity but I had compensation for this. He just tried to play his best and was not thinking about a draw here.
Gukesh was surprised that Be6 was not played on move 27. I was very worried about this position and was not sure if I could hold the game. Ding had many chances and I played not so good in this game.
Gukesh – Ding
Game 5
WCC Singapore 2024
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 c4 7.Bc2 Bd6 8.Qe2+ Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.0–0 Re8 11.Re1+ Kf8 12.Rxe8+ Kxe8 13.Bg5 Nbd7 14.Nbd2 h6 15.Bh4 Nh5 16.Re1+ Kf8 17.g4 Nf4 18.Bg3 Nb6 19.g5 hxg5 20.Nxg5 Bd7 21.Ngf3 Re8 22.Ne5 Bxe5 23.dxe5 Nd3 24.Bxd3 cxd3 25.f3 Nc4 [25…Na4 26.Rb1 f6 27.Kf2 fxe5 28.c4 e4 29.fxe4 dxe4 30.Ke3 Bf5 31.h4 Kf7 32.Bf2 g6 33.Kf4] 26.Nxc4 dxc4 27.Re4 Bc6 28.Rd4 Bxf3 29.Kf2 Bc6 30.Rxc4 Rd8 31.Rd4 Rxd4 32.cxd4 Bd5 33.b3 Ke7 34.Ke3 Ke6 35.Kxd3 g6 36.Kc3 a6 37.Kd3 Kf5 38.Ke3 Ke6 39.Kd3 Kf5 40.Ke3 Ke6 ½–½
Game 6 has seen it being a very dull affair in the opening and beginning of the middle game. The endgame spiced things up with a complicated endgame with 2 rooks on the board with a pawn majority for black on the kingside and for white on the queenside
The result of the game led to a draw but it was the first game where it went past the 40-move mark.
Ding was asked a question about if his health or other problems are causing him to not convert wining positions. Ding’s response was simply that he sometimes just does not feel comfortable with some positions.
Game 7 will start at 7 p.m. ChST on Tuesday, the 3rd of December.
Ding – Gukesh D
Game 6
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Bd6 6.Bb5+ Nc6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.Bxd6 Qxd6 9.Qa4 0–0[9…Kf8] 10.Qa3 Ne4 11.Nfd2 e5 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Qxc5 Qg6 [13…Qf6] 14.Nd2 Qxg2 15.0–0–0 Qxf2 16.dxe5 Rb8 17.Nc4 Be6 18.Rd2 Qf3 19.Re1 Bxc4 20.Qxc4 Qf5 21.Qxc6 Qxe5 22.Qd5 Qe7 23.Qd6 Qg5 24.Qd5 Qe7 25.Qd6 Qg5 26.Qd5 Qh4[26…Qe7] 27.Red1 g6 28.Qe5 Rbe8 29.Qg3 Qh5 30.Qf4 Qa5 31.a3 Qb5 32.Rd4 Qe2 33.R1d2 Qf3 34.Kc2 Qxf4 35.exf4 f5 36.h4 e3 37.Re2 Re7 38.Kd3 Rfe8 39.h5 gxh5 40.Rd5 h4 41.Rxf5 Rd7+ 42.Kc2 Kg7 43.Rg2+ Kh8 44.Re2 Kg7 45.Rg2+ Kh8 46.Re2 Kg7 ½–½
