World Chess Championship: Gukesh’s heist in third game should keep him in good stead

D Gukesh at a press conference after his match against Ding Liren of China at the FIDE World Championship 2024, in Singapore.
| Photo Credit: PTI

A win in sports sometimes can be more than a win. Like the one D. Gukesh scored in Singapore on Wednesday (November 27, 2024), in the third game of the World chess championship against Ding Liren.

His situation was not desperate by any stretch of imagination. Though he had lost the opening game, and had drawn in the second, there was plenty of time in a 14-game match to get settled in and bridge the gap with the rival.

But, the fact that he could do it before the first rest day should make him feel better. That he could score such a crushing win and thus possibly take the momentum going into the fourth game should make him even feel better.

For someone as inexperienced as Gukesh – the boy is just 18, we have to remember – the defeat in the opening game must have been a bit unsettling, especially after he began as the firm favourite in just about everyone’s book, including that of Ding, interestingly enough. He has been mature enough to dismiss such talk, still it must not be a good feeling to begin a campaign on such a faulty note.

The way Gukesh won, using precise calculation, also augurs well for him in the remainder of the match. He was playing to his strength. When it comes to calculating abilities, he is among the very best in world chess.

Like Gukesh came back from a big setback, Ding too should want to turn things around quickly. He cannot afford another game in which he could go behind Gukesh in terms of time by one hour; neither could he be so unsure in the opening, in which his opponent seemed so at home.

There are people who believe that Ding was too quick to opt for a draw, with white pieces, in Game 2. “It was as if he was afraid to lose,” says Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay. “I don’t think he was giving the right signals, especially after winning with black pieces in the first game.”

Thipsay believes Gukesh still may not need all the 14 games before he could clinch the title. “He may do it with something like two rounds to spare,” he says. “I was impressed with his win in the third game; he was playing like himself. That hadn’t been the case in the first game.”

So Ding will need to bring the best version of himself, too – before long.