Equilibrium - the beauty of chess - Game 5

"Chess is a game of equilibrium"- William Cluley

Gukesh's White games have been the most interesting ones in this World Championship match. It is perhaps because he is playing more daring chess and Ding also plays his part. When Ding starts with White, he keeps the game pretty quiet and in control. The daring of youth is essential perhaps to provide fireworks to the spectators!

1.e4 1. e6 2. d4 d5

Gukesh has returned to 1.e4 for this game and Ding has stuck to his choice of French!  

3. exd5  

A surprising opening choice, considering that Gukesh excels in dynamic positions especially compared to Ding. But, as he mentioned in the press conference, this is an objectively good opening and there was not too much of a specific opponent-based strategy. We should also remember that Morphy was an exponent of Exchange French.

 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 c4 

 Closing the central tension with Bishop having a chance to goto c2 seemed a little weird, but this has been tested out in games and Black seems to do fine here.

 7. Bc2 Bd6 8. Qe2+ 

Usually, White would not exchange queens so early on in the game, but apparently it is to create fresh positions where one gets a game 

After the more natural 

8. O-O O-O 9. h3 Nc6 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 g5! As Hikaru pointed out, this was an improvement by Shirov over Nakamura-Abasov from candidates earlier this year and there was a forced draw for Black after this! 12. Bg3 Bxg3 13. fxg3 Nh5 14. Kh2 Qd6 15. Ne5 Nxg3 16. Kxg3 f6 17. Na3 fxe5 18. Nb5 Rxf1 19. Qh5 Qf6 20. Rxf1 Qxf1 21. Qg6+ Kf8 22. Qxh6+ Ke7 23. Qd6+ Kf7 24. Qg6+ Kf8 25. Qh6+ Ke7 26. Qd6+ Kf7 27. Qg6+ Ke7 28. Qd6+ Kf7 29. Qg6+ Ke7 30. Qd6+ Kf7 {½-½ Grandelius,N (2653)-Shirov,A (2666) Olympiad-45 Budapest 2024 (4.8)

 8... Qe7 9. Qxe7+ Kxe7!  

This move came a surprise to Gukesh it seemed, in the press conference he mentioned that he knew this move existed but could not remember the details of his preparation. Apparently, this features in Anish Giri's course and that adds weight to this natural move. I would assume Karpov would play this without thinking :-)

10. O-O Re8 

 A very interesting moment.

 11. Re1+ 

After 13 minutes of thought Gukesh goes for a forcing continuation. Kramnik felt that White should not exchange a pair of Rooks, this actually releases some tension in the position. Instead, he recommended 11. b3!? While one is not sure if White has an objective advantage in this line as well, it maintains more tension and is perhaps suited for a longer game.

11... Kf8 12. Rxe8+ Kxe8 13. Bg5 

 13. b3 was Kramnik's suggestion again 

13... Nbd7 14. Nbd2 

 Ding mentioned that this move was where he started to think on his own. Once again, an interesting comment, does that mean he was more focused on 14. Nh4!? g6, though this too does not look like creating a lot of play, perhaps the idea is to bring the knight on h4 to e3 after g2-g3

14... h6 15. Bh4 Nh5!  

Kramnik's initial suggestion at this point was 15... b5 after which he felt Black is doing fine, but slowly he started to like Ding's move which showed that Black is always in control pretty much.

 16. Re1+ Kf8 17. g4?! 

Gukesh was over ambitious at this point. Objectively, perhaps there was no reason to be this committal, but true to his style he calculates concretely and tries to be maximal in a given position. Judit jokingly mentioned that Karpov would never play g4 weakening the f4-square in these kinds of positions. Elie Agur has discussed Fischer's liking for the g-pawn thrust and illustrates several instances where a young Fischer undertook it both successfully and otherwise. Gukesh follows in the footsteps of his favourite player. Personally, the older the player, the more skeptical he is of g2-g4 in my opinion :-) We should also note that Ding also felt this was the way to go for Gukesh! Well, modern chess...... 

17. Nf1 g5 18. Bg3 Nxg3 19. hxg3 (19. fxg3 was Kramnik's suggestion to keep some tension in the position.) 19... Nf6 20. Ne3 Be6 Gukesh mentioned that this was solid for White and that he did not find any chances to press.

 17... Nf4 18. Bg3 Nb6! 

 Black simply goes on with his development. The knight on b6 retains a chance to jump to the a4-square to attack the b2-pawn in due course.

 19. g5 

Personally, it was not clear to move on what White was achieving by breaking his pawn structure. Does he get any dynamic chances in return for the broken pawn structure?

 19. Ne5 was Kramnik's suggestion again. Bxe5 20. dxe5 Nd3 21. Bxd3 cxd3 22. Re3 Bxg4 23. Rxd3=

 19... hxg5 20. Nxg5 Bd7

 21. Ngf3 

21. Nf1 was Hikaru's suggestion where White retains equality.

21... Re8 22. Ne5 Bxe5 23. dxe5? 

Gukesh admitted that this was based on a hallucination/ miscalculation. This move was played 'a tempo' Perhaps a moment of Blinking as Jonathon Rowson would have called it!

23. Rxe5 Rxe5 (23... Ne2+ 24. Kf1 Nxg3+ 25. hxg3 Rxe5 26. dxe5 Ba4 27. Bb1 Bc6 = was Hikaru's suggestion) 24. dxe5 Ne2+ 25. Kf1 Nc1!? Both Kramnik and Magnus reasoned out that Gukesh might have been worried about this while deciding on not to take with the Rook. Perhaps even after giving up the pawn on a2, Black's knight can be trapped in some lines, so the position remains very very complex. But if it sowed enough doubts, then Black's position has clearly more potential in a practical game. This once again makes me skeptical of the g4-g5 pawn thrust in this endgame!

23... Nd3! 24. Bxd3 cxd3 25. f3 

 25. b3 Rc8 26. Rc1 d4 27. c4 Nd5 is the line that Gukesh missed perhaps as suggested by all the commentators. When the Knight on b6 lands on c3, the position turns completely!

 25... Nc4 

Ding goes for a solid option. More tension was maintained by 25... Na4 26. Rb1 f6! If Gukesh was playing Black, this aggressive option was what he would have chosen, and it sure looks scary for White.

 26. Nxc4 dxc4 27. Re4!  Bc6 

Ding keeps playing safely!

 27... Be6 This position is a dream come true for a Berlin player. Black's King would improve and walk up the board to g6 through light squares and try to open up the position for the Rook either on the kingside or queenside after White blocks d2 with his own King. White needs to defend the position for a long time to come, and that is never easy. 

28. Rd4 Rc8 29. Bf2 This move prevents Black's Rook coming over to c5 to use the 4 th Rank to attack White's a2 and b2 pawns frontally. White needs to of accuracy to hold this position, if at all it seems like!

 28. Rd3 29. Kf2 Bc6 

This move tantamount to a draw offer was a surprise to the pundits and amateurs alike! While it is not clear that Black is having serious winning chances, he should nevertheless have tried to keep his lead in material for several more moves before conceding a draw. 29... Bh5! 30. Ke3 b5 31. Rh4 g6 32. b3 Rc8 White's blockade is perhaps good enough for a draw, but that still did not answer why Ding did not try this line! 

30. Rxc4 Rd8 31. Rd4 Rxd4 32. cxd4 Bd5 33. b3 Ke7 34. Ke3 Ke6 35. Kxd3 g6 36. Kc3 a6 37. Kd3 Kf5 38. Ke3 Ke6 39. Kd3 Kf5 40. Ke3 Ke6 1/2-1/2

The score remains 2.5 each after five games. But there are several things that are becoming clearer. Ding chooses to stick with French as the main weapon against e4 of Gukesh. Gukesh clearly is more ambitious as White and makes the game more interesting. However, there is a question if he is losing objectivity and is overestimating his own position. He has played flamboyantly and has not shied away from pushing his pawns (especially the g-pawn). Gukesh's advantage being his concrete calculation which seems to be better than Ding in the current match, but at the same time, his non intuitive risk taking also has its downsides as it gives Ding chances too! Ding on the other hand has been very conservative and if anything has been underestimating his own chances. He could have put more pressure on Gukesh in few games. Both players need to balance this and up their game in the remaining ones. The match is quite exciting and there would be several fighting games ahead one would presume.

replayable link to the game