Singapore: Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh faced significant challenges due to unnecessary complications in the middle game, allowing defending champion Ding Liren of China to secure victory in the opening game of the World Chess Championship on Monday.
Winning with black not just meant a full point but also huge psychological advantage for Liren in the $2.5 million prize money event because he entered the competition with patchy form.The first player to reach 7.5 points claims the crown.
“It can happen; it’s a long match. About my opponent’s form, I expected nothing else. I expected the best version of him, and we have a long match ahead, so it’s only more exciting now,” Gukesh said after the game.
At just 18 years old, Gukesh is the youngest challenger for the world championship title and surprised many by advancing his king pawn early in the game, signalling an aggressive approach. Liren responded with the French Defense.
“Of course I was nervous but once I started playing, I calmed down but then the momentum kind of slipped,” said the Chennai-based challenger.
Gukesh’s opening choice echoed a strategy used by the legendary Viswanathan Anand in his first world championship match against Alexei Shirov in 2001.
This decision proved influential, as Liren spent considerable time on his moves, likely unexpected by many chess experts.
By the 12th move, Gukesh had a half-hour time advantage, but just eight moves later, Liren had gained a couple of extra minutes on the clock, indicating he had navigated his opening challenges and was positioned well for the middle game.
The 32-year-old Chinese player demonstrated exceptional form from that point on, as Gukesh’s middle game began to deteriorate. The classical match concluded after 42 moves.
“I haven’t won a single classical game for a long time, and today, I managed to do that. But this game, to be fair, was very lucky for me because I missed two tactics,” Liren said in the post-game press conference.
“In the first game, he might get nervous at the start of the match, so I tried to play something unusual, which I haven’t played for a long time, and it turned out to work perfectly,” he added.
