Ding Liren reacts during Game 11 of the 2024 World Chess Championship against India’s Gukesh. (PHOTO: FIDE/Eng Chin An)
The momentum in the 2024 World Chess Championship match swung decisively on Sunday after Gukesh defeated Ding Liren with white pieces in Game 11 to take a 6-5 lead. There are just three more games left.
Under severe time trouble in Game 11, Ding Liren blundered on Move 28 when he retreated his queen to c8 (28.Qc8). That move proved to be decisive as he resigned one move later.
Ding Liren’s predecessor on the world champion’s throne — Magnus Carlsen — predicted after Game 11 that the “most likely scenario was that Ding will crumble” after the defeat.
“We’ll see if Ding has any fight in him. Will Ding crumble now? I think that’s most likely the most likely scenario. Whether he will put any pressure on Gukesh, whatsoever? Hard to say. Kinda doubt it. Gukesh has been very good at neutralising Ding with black pieces. Maybe Ding will put in a shift in the two white games remaining. But I am not optimistic on his behalf,” Carlsen said on Take Take Take.
INTERACTIVE: Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren
You can check out the move by move action from Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren and also play along in the interactive below
Talking about some of the decisions Ding Liren made over the board in Game 11, Magnus Carlsen said: “It’s all confusing, baffling, confounding. I don’t know what to say… Overall we have seen Ding is very vulnerable. But this game is as bad from Ding as we have seen all year. This was a terrible performance. This was dreadful.”
Carlsen added: “This was kind of ridiculous in game 11 of the world championship. Game 11 was as bad as we have (had). This was not worthy of a World Championship (match). It should be a little bit harder than it was today. But it was quite the spectacle.”
Talking specifically about the blunder with his queen which forced the world champion to resign after a move, Magnus Carlsen said: “(Ding was in) Pure panic mode. Don’t think Ding was thinking clearly at this point at all. He was out of the woods (after the opening). He spent so much time, but he found a common sense solution to get out. But to go from there to losing basically without a fight. It’s strange.”
