Ding Liren reacts during the World Chess Championship Game 3 with Gukesh. (FIDE/Eng Chin An)
Ding Liren lost the third game of the World Chess Championship against India’s D Gukesh after finding himself in a desperate time scramble where he needed to make 10 moves in five minutes at one stage. That time fell down to Ding needing to play nine moves in under one minute and 50 seconds.
This situation was a replica of the first game when Gukesh was playing with white pieces and found himself in a desperate lung-bursting sprint to the finish line where he was trying to beat the clock. In that game, Gukesh had made it past the 40-move time control with just one second left on the clock. But his position was significantly weakened by the moves he was rushed into making. He had eventually capitulated a few moves later.
On Wednesday, Ding Liren did not even make it that far. He eventually ran out of time needing to make three more moves. These were not easy moves, he had been under pressure on the clock and on the board ever since he made a reckless blood-rush-to-the-head move where he pushed his light-squared bishop to the c2 square to try and gobble up an unprotected pawn of Gukesh on b3.
But Ding soon realised that he had been lured into a trap by Gukesh, one that was the exact facsimile of a game played by former world champion Vladimir Kramnik against Arjun Erigaisi at the FIDE World Rapid Team Championship 2023 in Dusseldorf. That Kramnik vs Arjun game had ended in a draw after 72 moves.
“I recalled till the 13th move we had the same position. I think Arjun made some mistake in that game and Kramnik had an advantage but then it ended in a draw. I knew about that game, but I didn’t remember what the mistake was,” Gukesh said later at the press conference.
Ding’s bishop was stuck in quicksand on c2 after that reckless lunge forwards. Ding tried his best to send a rescue party to extricate the bishop, it was futile and like a boa constrictor squeezing the air out of its prey, Gukesh kept making things harder and harder one move at a time until finally, Ding Liren was in deep trouble both on the clock and on the board.
Just as the middle game was heating up, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who was in the commentary booth for the FIDE YouTube broadcast, said: “Gukesh has been coming up with interesting stuff (in the opening). So far he has not landed a blow. But that’s a perfectly normal situation for both of them. You don’t expect that the first good idea you have is going to hit. But for Gukesh it is nice that he is able to keep probing here and there.”
After the first two games had started with Ding trying to spring a surprise on Gukesh – first with the French Defence in Game 1 and then with the e4 on the first move in Game 2 – it was Gukesh’s turn to try something out-of-book against Ding. He started the game with an opening surprise: moving his d pawn instead of his c pawn.
Anand remarked: “I think Gukesh’s probably shaken off the nerves. The third time you do it (play in a world championship match) you probably get over it.”
Finally, the nerves are gone and Gukesh has landed a blow. And just in time too, with the first rest day of the match coming on Thursday. “The worst thing you can do in a world chess championship match like this is to lose just before a rest day,” said Anand dryly.
