FIDE World Championship Game 13: Ding dodges a bullet

With a draw of six and a half points and only one classic game remaining, the nerves are strained to the limit. At this point, any mistake could be crucial and both players show remarkable composure under intense pressure.

The reigning world champion, GM Ding Liren of China, was on the verge of defeat this afternoon. A mix of excellent defensive skills and a fair amount of luck allowed him to achieve a much better result than expected. Let’s take a closer look at the game.

After greeting both players, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the ceremonial first move, playing 1.Nf3. However, Gukesh quickly returned to g1 and opened the game with 1.e4, his choice for games one and five.

Ding took a moment to collect his thoughts and responded again with 1…e6 – the French Defense, an opening that worked well for him in the match. Gukesh followed the same line as in the first game, the Steinitz Variation, but introduced a small modification on the fifth move, playing 5.Nce2 instead of 5.f4, reflecting his team’s work in developing new ideas.

Gukesh caused a surprise on the seventh move with 7.a3. Ding spent more than fifteen minutes understanding the intricacies of the position. The move has already been tried out in a few championship games, but never at the highest level.

“I was surprised. He played a turn order trick, I was confused and had to figure it out as I played. Due to the delay of f2-f4 in some variations he plays f4 and in other variations Nf3 and Nf4,” Ding explained in the press conference.

“That’s Gukesh’s preparation, his game strategy. He picked these unusual, rare variations,” GM David Howell added in the commentary booth.

After eight moves, Ding had already used up over fifty minutes of his time, while Gukesh needed less than a minute. A few moves later, the engines suggested that Gukesh had a clear advantage after 12.Qg4 and was attacking the g7 pawn, but instead the challenger preferred to complete his development. “I briefly saw that 12.Qg4 was possible, but I don’t think it’s very strong. I thought what I played was also very good,” he later explained.

After both opponents castled, Gukesh suddenly stopped and thought. Co-commentator IM Jovanka Houska explained what was going on: “Black holds all the trump cards in the long run: if Gukesh doesn’t try to cause problems, things will get better for Ding.”

“If we could somehow magically take the queens off the board, Black would undoubtedly have the advantage. Ding has a three-on-two majority on the queenside and Gukesh has a d-pawn behind: he has to go for checkmate,” added GM David Howell.

After Gukesh moved his knight to h5 and threatened to swing his queen to g4 and launch an attack, Ding decided it was time to weaken his pawn structure but activate pieces, opting for 15…f5 .

At this point, five-time world champion and FIDE Vice President GM Vishy Anand announced: “The probability of the game going to tie-breaks is around 60%.”

The position remained more or less the same for several more moves, with both players trying to find the best squares for their pieces. Twenty moves before the time control, both players were in the last thirty minutes: time was imminent.

Gukesh continued to apply pressure on the board, the clock and from outside. Ding was visibly nervous and trying to keep it together. After the game he admitted: “I also missed his excellent moves 19.Qe2 and 22.Bf4. He was able to gradually improve his position.”

Suddenly, Gukesh unexpectedly decided to swap his dark-squared bishop for Ding’s knight, leaving his opponent with a bad bishop on c8 and some other pawn weaknesses. “It’s now a game of two outcomes: Ding holds on, but he doesn’t seem to have a chance of winning,” noted David Howell.

“He’s obviously so nervous; he knows he’s walking a tightrope,” Howell said. Online, 30,000 chess fans watched the game on FIDE’s YouTube channel with bated breath. GM Pavel Eljanov also spoke at X.

With only six minutes for ten moves in a highly complex position, things looked very bleak for Ding. Disaster struck on the thirtieth move – Ding should have swapped his queen for Gukesh’s two rooks, with a good chance of keeping the draw, but instead he played 30…Qf7, allowing Gukesh to win.

Put yourself in Gukesh’s shoes. Would you play 31.Ne4 and target the d6 square, or would you swap rooks first?

The challenger missed an important defensive idea. “I thought I had a pretty good game. When I played 31.Ne4 I missed his defensive idea with 31…Rf8 and 32…Rc7. “My original intention was to swap rooks first and then Ne4, which was supposed to be a win,” he explained after the game.

When both players reached the 40-move time control, there wasn’t much they could do to unbalance the game. Ding made the practical decision to go into a rook endgame with a pawn down, but considered a technical draw and they signed peace on move 68.

“I’m pretty tired after this long game. We will set the strategy for the next game, which will be a golden game,” Ding said in the press conference. “I don’t think there will be a short draw tomorrow,” were Ding’s last words before joining his team to prepare for perhaps his most important game of the year.

“It will be an important game and I will try to do my best. The closer the game becomes, the more exciting it becomes. My approach will be the same: approach with the same energy and just do my best and see what happens,” reflected Gukesh after the game.

After thirteen of the fourteen scheduled classic games, the score is tied 6.5 to 6.5. The final Classic game will take place on Thursday, December 12 at 5:00 p.m. local time in Singapore, with Ding Liren playing White. If the game ends in a draw, the rapid chess tiebreaks will take place on Friday, December 13th at 5 p.m.

Fact Sheet, Game 13, FIDE World Championship:

White: Gukesh D
Black: Ding Liren
Result: 0.5-0.5
Game length: 68 moves
Opening: French defense
Variation: Steinitz Variation
Match score: 6.5-6.5

Although the FIDE World Cup is the focus, local organizers, together with FIDE, have organized a wide range of side events for all fans coming to Sentosa for the game.

The highlight of the day was the screening of the film “FIDE 100: The Game is Just Beginning”, hosted by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. Following the screening, special awards were presented to several journalists, cameramen and photographers who have contributed to the promotion of chess worldwide.

Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)

Photos: Eng Chin An, Maria Emelianova and Singapore Open

Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/

Full program of side events: worldchampionship.fide.com/events

About the event

Current world champion Ding Lirenrepresentative of China, And challenger Gukesh Dfrom India, compete against each other in a classic chess game with fourteen games. The player who scores 7.5 or more points wins the game and receives most of the total prize fund of $2.5 million.

The first of the fourteen scheduled games took place on Monday 25 November at 5pm, with Gukesh opening with white. The match will take place at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcast live on the FIDE YouTube channel with expert commentary.