Poker-faced Gukesh, expressive Ding a study in contrasts
China’s Ding Liren is already being hailed a moral victor, even before the first chess piece has moved in his World Chess Championship match against D Gukesh that starts in Singapore from Monday.
For, despite the general perception of Chinese being inscrutable and stoic, the chess community is almost united in their assertion that the 32-year-old World No. 23 is not faking his mental vulnerability and that it is not his strategy to lure Gukesh into complacency.
Elite GM Levon Aronian told TOI: “Ding is not a tricky guy. I don’t see that. He may not be in the best state, it is maybe caused by the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic or him not being able to play for a long period. But he is going to fight it out. He won’t come to Singapore and resign, no.
“But what is also clear that all of the chances are on Gukesh’s side,” Aronian reiterated.
RB Ramesh, coach and R Praggnanandhaa’s mentor, too provided some insight. “Ding is genuinely suffering,” he said, “When Prag faced Ding in January, I remember him telling me after the game, ‘His hands were shivering while making the moves.’ Something is not right with Ding. And playing against youngsters makes him even more stressful. So, he won’t enjoy this match.”
Gukesh’s early coach Vishnu Prasanna said, “You start doubting Ding when he says, ‘I am not afraid of losing but I am afraid of losing badly’. There is no need to say that.”
Is Ding being too forthright? Gukesh has said he is prepared to play the best version of Ding, eliminating concerns of complacency.
Faking, or deception, is not only allowed in sport but often marvelled at due to its brilliance in execution, and impact. But in chess, a cerebral sport, this feigning is so subtle that it goes unnoticed by the spectators, many watching the board and not the players.
In his 2008 title match in Bonn, Viswanathan Anand famously scored two wins with black against Vladimir Kramnik. In one of those wins, he had prepared an entire line. Conventional wisdom said that it was better for white. But the Indian genius had found an exciting initiative with black.
The trick lay in the fact that during the game, Anand had to give the impression of being “out of the book” and trying to attain equality. For, even a hint of the line being prepared would have alerted Kramnik and he would have deviated to a safer territory. Talk about being poker faced!
Soft signals too are important in the game. Anand had said elite players won’t need a cheating gadget but just a small hint — eg. a chess engine’s evaluation number (plus 1, minus 2, etc.) — is enough to take the position to the desired territory. Gukesh is unlikely to give an inch to Ding in terms of body language. For, he is poker faced almost all the time, giving away nothing, making it quite difficult to judge whether he is placed better or not. But some players, Garry Kasparov, famously, are expressive and can convert that into a tool of gamesmanship.
It includes removing the wristwatch, pressing the chess clock harder or moving the pieces forcefully, sipping water, rubbing their faces with their hands, making expressions with eyes and holding eye contact. Anand had said the players also learn to decipher breathing signals from the opponents.
While all this doesn’t change the board position, it can influence the course of the game in a big way. Such novelty is not announced. In chess, that bubbly must be uncorked without noise.
