World Championship 2024 diaries Game 1

 "World Championship match is an emotional experience" - Vladimir Kramnik 

The World Championship match between Gukesh and Ding is underway, and this is one of the rare occasions where the challenger is rated higher than the champion according to rating and current results going by the past one year. While there have been varied kind of predictions going on about the outcome of the match, Magnus predicted that the match could be more even than many might think. 

Game 1 is always a nervous story for the challenger as the experienced top challengers themselves say! Remember, game 1 of Anand-Carlsen 2013, Chennai when Carlsen was visibly nervous and by his own admission escaped with a draw!

Outwardly Gukesh seemed confident, though he later admitted in the press conference there was bound to be nervousness and indeed he was, but he felt alright once the game began! Let us start delving in to the game

1.e4 e6! 

As it turned out this was a very smart choice by Ding, an unexpected opening which he had not favored much recently, and as he rightly pointed out in the press conference, he wanted to provoke Gukesh and utilize his nervousness!? The French defense occurred only thrice before in the earlier history of World championships. And all the earlier games were decisive, namely Alekhine-Capa 1927, Botvinnik-Smylsov 1954 and Botvinnik-Tal 1960

2.d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 3.e5 Nfd7 4.f4 c5 5. Nce2 Nc6 6.c3

The decisive game of Anand-Shirov Tehran world cup/championship 2000 featured this where Anand won a fine game and the title. Though lot of water has passed under the bridge from almost two and half decades ago, one would assume that Gajewski and Gukesh have looked into this interesting line in detail.

6....a5!?

Ding played this after twenty-seven minutes thought! While it was naive to expect that this line was a total surprise for him, as Ding himself pointed out in the press conference, he was not remembering the lines, so he went for a strategy that would suit the present situation and tried to do some stuff over the board. If this was indeed so, kudos to him and he did indeed bring an unbalanced strategic battle to the board. Players like Botvinnik or Korchnoi were strong exponents of the French Defense and especially this kind of play.

8.Nf3 a4 9. Be3 Be7 10. g4!? 

This was a bit of surprise! To see such an aggressive thrust so early on in the opening, and even in the match. In earlier times people played cautiously and were trying to read each other's preparation and mental frame especially in the matches of the yesteryear which spanned 24 games. While modern approach to the game has changed, a hyper aggressive approach is still a rarity one must say.

10....Qa5!?

This was an extremely logical follow up to the last move. Black tries to undermine White's pawn chain by attacking at its base as Nimzowitsch recommended. Here Black develops the Queen and pins the pawn on c3, so as to not let White recapture with his c-pawn in case of .... cxd4 by Black. It was a bit of surprise to hear Gukesh say that this was not expected by them. But then in the modern spectrum of preparation there are just too many possibilities that need to be seen and rightly some of them will be missed making it a fight over the board, quite befitting the original fighters Ding and Gukesh!

11.Bg2!?

There is also an idea of 11. Kf2 intending to make g3 square as a resting spot for the monarch, but in that case why had white played 10.g4 and not 10.g3 is a relevant question!

11....a3 12. b3 cxd4 13. b4 Qc7 14. Ned4

While white has pushed around Black's queen and is having an advantage in space, it is important to note that he has also weakened some squares. Especially the c4-square as a weakness can play an important role in the game. One cannot but think of the very first game of the Smylsov-Botvinnik match from 1954, when the weakness of the c4-square decided the game in Black's favour ultimately.

14....Nb6!? 15.0-0 Nc4 16. Bf2 Bd7!

Note that Black does not hurry to castle at all, and instead purposefully piles up pieces in the area of his strength- queenside. He wants to play for the c4- square and perhaps target the weakness of the backward pawn on c3, all the while keeping his king in the centre and not committing its placement to the kingside where it may be a clear target for White's advanced pawns and pieces on that side.

17.Qe2!?

Gukesh played this move after more than half an hour of thought, thereby losing most of his time advantage! The move, is a very natural one and was predicted instantly by Judit Polgar in her commentary, showing her class in these kinds of positions. She felt that this natural move could have been played instantly, and this would have retained the time advantage and a bit of psychological pressure. However, Naroditsky felt that White would have calculated other forcing moves like for instance f5 etc and would have used the time advantage he had, to try and make an impact on the position. He also suggested a forcing move like Nd2 apart from a slight improvement move like Kh1!? Just goes to show how replete with possibilities the position indeed is. Nevertheless, was a deep think really required to play this? We never know!

17.... Nxd4! 

The World Champion replied instantly thereby showing his urgency with regard to time management. The time Gukesh spent for the last move had also given Ding enough time to find a plan and understand the position well, one would assume. At this time, Gukesh had gone out of the board and was going to return only after a few minutes.

18. Nxd4?!

Gukesh responded after six minutes of thought. Vladimir Kramnik commented that 18. Bd4 was forced and that he had not even considered this. While the idea to protect e5 strongpoint and thereafter threaten to play f4-f5 break seems quite logical and a bit strong comment by Kramnik makes sense from a classical old school point of view, in Gukesh's defense Judit and Naroditsky were also mainly considering only Gukesh's 18. Nxd4!? In hindsight Gukesh admitted in the press conference that taking with the bishop would have been better! Mostly I feel Ding might have answered Bxd4 by h5!? keeping the position strategically complex and not committing the position of his king ala Steinitz.

18....Nb2!

This was a very important move, which was missed even by Judit in the commentary. To show that white's Nd4 is wrong Black needs these purposeful moves, not pausing for castling and directly trying and making use of the weakness of the c3-pawn and more importantly try to offer an exchange of Queens and make White lose his coordination even more by this threat.

19.Qe3?!

Gukesh's errors started to follow one after another, this was not a good square for the Queen as Magnus felt that too. The Queen could have gone to f3, so as to meet Black's Qc4 with Rfe1. This prevents Black's Qd3 as it can be answered with Re3. Kramnik suggested to gambit the pawn, with f5!?  The position remains dynamic and complex, where both sides have lot of play.

19....Rc8! 20 Rac1 Qc4!

Ding played these moves quickly and confidently; his every move makes more sense in the context of White's moves. Now that a2 is hanging this makes more sense.

21.f5 Qd3! 22.Qe1

Clearly this was not Gukesh's first intention, but the more natural 22. Qf4 would run into g5! 23.fxg6 Qxg6 White has overextended a lot and his weak pawns and Black's coordination would trigger a collapse soon!

22.... Bg5!

Black's coordination creates a perfect picture, and White's pieces are clustered together and the weak squares created by the pawn advances seem to hurt him a lot. At a cursory look this looks like a big advantage for Black.

23.Rc2 Rc4!?

Ding started to play quick, as there was no increment in the first-time control. He started to get a lead over his opponent in time, and not only that, but he also wanted to play sensible moves which do not lose control over the position. However, this was a moment where Black had an even stronger move as Magnus pointed out, to just castle and White's weaknesses seem undefendable!

24.h4 Bf4 25. Qb1 Rxc3 26. Rxc3 Qxc3 27. fxe6 fxe6

Ding had twenty-two minutes before this move and after four minutes of thought came up with this capture of the pawn. This was a very practical decision, although objectively it seems that 27....Bxe6! was better as it keeps the kingside more secure. 28.Nb5 Qxe5 29. Re1 Bh2+ 30. Kh1 Qf4! and Black has a big advantage, but once again from a practical point of view in a time control without increment, this was far from easy!

28.Ne2 Qe5 29. Nxf4 Qxf4 

As it turned out this was the moment where the game was to be decided firmly. Though Black is ahead in material, there is still a chance for White to create some play against the opponent's king using his bishop pair and the openness of the position.

30. Qc2?

Gukesh took six of his alloted ten minutes in this position and could not come up with the best continuation. He clearly focussed all his attention on the natural and perhaps the only move, 30. Bc5!

Qxg4 

and his original intention was the fantastic 31. Qxh7 which seems to be winning but runs into the equally brilliant retort 31 .... Qd4+!! which turns the tables and in fact wins for Black. Ding also pointed this during the press conference that he was lucky to spot this. Nevertheless, this was White's only chance to create any sort of complications and stay in the game. For example, White could continue with 31. Qc2 !? or 31. Rf3 trying to hit the pawn on a3 and also to create some counterplay on the f-file.

30...Qc4! 

Ding found these moves confidently and sealed the deal.

31.Qd2 0-0 32. Bd4 Nd3 33. Qe3 Rxf1+ 34. Bxf1 e5! -+

After this Black is in complete control

35.Bxe5 Qxg4+ 36. Bg2 Bf5 37. Bg3 Be4 38. Kh2 h6 39. Bh3 Qd1 40. Bd6 Qc2+

The time control was made, but White is already completely lost here.

41.Kg3 Qxa2 42. Be6+ Kh8!

0-1

Ding sidesteps the last trap in the position as 42... Kh7 would have been answered by 43. Qxe4 +! which would now not work because Qxe4 is not a check, and Black has a check at his own disposal with 43... Qf2! to meet 43. Qxe4

So Gukesh resigned

Score 1- 0 in favour of the world champion Ding

Regarding the nerves that remain in a challenger's first round game another interesting game that comes to mind is the first match game of Botvinnik-Petrosian from 1963 where Botvinnik the champion played a formidable game, but Petrosian was playing well below par and lost convincingly even though he had the White pieces. The relevant page from Vasilev's book on Petrosian was shared by Douglas Griffin

Gukesh can feel inspired with this as Petrosian went on to win the match convincingly against the patriarch despite losing the first game with the White pieces!

Chess Base link to the Games discussed in the blog