Ding chose the more conservative option: a simple office chair that was enough to serve the purpose. Gukesh, on the other hand, chose a high-back gaming chair. (FIDE YouTube/Screengrab)
Before D Gukesh and Ding Liren made their first moves on the board in Game 1, each player had another decision to make. Both were offered the option to pick their seats for the World Chess Championship. The organisers had reportedly asked both players to choose from seven chairs.
Their picks probably reflected their state of mind before the 14-game duel began. Ding, on whose head rested the crown somewhat uneasily, chose the more conservative option: a simple office chair that was enough to serve the purpose.
Gukesh, on the other hand, chose a high-back gaming chair. A power move if there was ever one. Before both players made their way to the playing arena, and the board was flanked simply by the two chairs, Gukesh’s chair looked imposing. It towered over Ding’s.
“Gukesh’s chair looking dominant already,” tweeted Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri on X.
But Ding was clearly comfortable in the chair, planting himself in it firmly till both players had made the first time control four hours after the game began. His young opponent, on the other hand, walked around in the playing arena, visiting his lounge a few times. When Ding finally got off the chair – having drawn first blood – the FIDE broadcast flashed a statistic to highlight the contrast: Gukesh had spent 28 minutes away from the board; Ding had spent 245 minutes in his chair without a break.
This was in sharp contrast to the Ding of 2023, when the Chinese grandmaster had looked in discomfort and had frequently chosen to seek refuge in his playing lounge. During that contest against Ian Nepomniachtchi, a viral meme on social media showed Ding slumped on a sofa in his private lounge with his head covered in a hoodie.
Ding, buoyed by his Game 1 victory on Monday, even joked about that.
“Today, I spent all the game sitting on the board. Not hiding in the players’ lounge like in the first game last time,” he chuckled.
After a win in the first game, the man with the crown on his head finds himself at ease on the throne.
