FIDE World Championship Game 9: The calm after the storm

In common wisdom, after a violent storm, the weather typically becomes calm. After a period of turmoil or chaos, peace and tranquility follow. In the wake of the two very complex and dramatic previous games, today’s encounter was quite a peaceful affair.

After Dr Shilpak Ambule, High Commissioner of India to Singapore performed the ceremonial move for Gukesh this afternoon, the Indian challenger opened the game with 1.d4.

Playing with Black, Ding Liren opted for the Bogo-Indian defence, which after a few moves transposed into one of the most popular lines of the Catalan Opening. Although both players have employed the Catalan regularly in the past, it was the first game of the match featuring this opening.

The first key moment came when Gukesh essayed an interesting move 10.Bc3 (see diagram below). One of the ideas was to try and get in b2-b4 straight away.

In this position, there are hundreds of games played with the more popular 10.b3 and above all 10.Bf4. Visibly surprised, Ding Liren spent nearly twenty minutes pondering on his response, finally choosing the standard development with 10…Bb7.

Still in preparation, Gukesh expanded on the queenside with 13.b4 and soon after started working his way into his opponent’s position with the dangerous pin 16.Ba5. 

The Indian was playing fast and confidently, while Ding appeared to overthink his moves. 

On move seventeen, the engines suggested a forced line beginning with 17…Nxc4, with massive exchanges. Instead, Ding preferred to relinquish his bishop with 17…Bxf3 and defend a slightly worse middlegame.

Reflecting after the game, Ding admitted missing this good opportunity to equalize: “My second told me after the game that I could have played 17…Nxc4 equalizing easily. I calculated the line but missed 19…Nd7 and I am not worse at all.”

By move 20, Gukesh held a significant time advantage with one hour twenty-one minutes, while Ding Liren was down to thirty minutes!

Put yourself in Gukesh’s shoes. Would you play 20.Qb5 or maybe 20.Ne5?

“The game was very precise. I might have had a small edge after 16.Ba5, but I think that 20.Qb5 was premature: maybe I should have played 20.Ne5 with a small edge, although it shouldn’t be decisive in any way,” explained Gukesh after the game. “It was based on a miscalculation: I missed his defensive idea 21…Qa7 and 22….Rb8.”

From then on, the champion played very accurately, successfully neutralizing White’s initiative and liquidating to an equal ending, in which he even had a tiny edge.

In the press conference, Gukesh calmly analyzed the match situation: „So far, it’s been a very interesting match: a few missed chances from me, a few missed chances from him. We have both showed fighting spirit and entertaining chess, and there are still five more exciting games to go.“

He added: “Especially in the last few games, I think I’m playing pretty well, and I just hope to continue playing good games, and hopefully, at some point when I do the right things, I believe that the results will come.”

FACT SHEET, Game 9, FIDE World Championship:
White: Gukesh D 
Black: Ding Liren
Result: 0.5-0.5
Game length: 54 moves
Opening: Catalan Opening (stemming from the Bogo-Indian Defence)
Match score: 4.5-4.5

Although the FIDE World Championship is by far the main event, the local organisers along with FIDE have arranged a wide range of side events for all the fans coming to Sentosa for the match.

Today’s agenda featured a variety of activities, starting with a lecture in the Fan Zone by FIDE Vice President GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili, who shared insights into his experiences as a second for Garry Kasparov. In the afternoon, FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky participated in the Chess History Trivia Quiz, while Singapore’s own stars, GMs Tin Jingyao and Siddharth Jagadeesh, entertained spectators with live interactions in the fan zone.

The Singapore International Open also concluded this morning, bringing together 559 players from 34 federations, including 37 GMs and 6 WGMs.  GM Lu Shanglei from China emerged as the clear winner, while GM Szymon Gumularz from Poland clinched silver and local GM Jagadeesh Siddharth secured bronze.

Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)

Photos: Eng Chin An, Maria Emelianova and Singapore Open

Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/

Full programme of side-events: worldchampionship.fide.com/events

About the event

Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.

The first of the fourteen scheduled games took place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm with Gukesh opening with White. Hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa the match is broadcast live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.