India Grandmaster D Gukesh conceded the high-pressure opening game on Monday to reigning champion Ding Liren at the World Chess Championship in Singapore.
Ding Liren’s win with the black pieces gave him an early lead in the marathon 14-game showdown, ending in mid-December.
Gukesh, however, is not rattled by his loss in the first round.
“It can happen; it is a long match. About my opponent’s form, I expected nothing else. I expected the best version of him, and we have a long match ahead, so it’s only more exciting now,” Gukesh said after the game.
For Liren, the win in the first round means his confidence level will soar in the coming games since he has entered the Championship on the heels of a patchy form.
It must be noted that the first player to reach 7.5 points betwen the two will be crowned the champion.
Gukesh, the youngest-ever challenger for the World Championship title, came up with an early surprise in the opening by pushing his king pawn forward. It is a move that symbolises attacking intentions and the Chinese chose the French defense to combat the situation.
“Of course I was nervous but once I started playing, I calmed down but then the momentum kind of slipped,” said Gukesh.
Gukesh’s middle game crumbles
By the 12th move, Gukesh enjoyed a half-hour advantage on the clock but eight moves later, Liren had a couple of extra minutes to boast off on his clock giving a clear indication that he had gotten out of his opening problems and had a decent middle game on hand.
The 32-year-old Chinese Grandmaster displayed peak form after that as Gukesh’s middle game crumbled. The clash lasted 42 moves.
“I have not won a single classical game for a long time, and today, I managed to do that. But this game, to be fair, was very lucky for me because I missed two tactics,” Liren said in the post-game press conference.
“In the first game, he might get nervous at the start of the match, so I tried to play something unusual, which I haven’t played for a long time, and it turned out to work perfectly,” he added.
With the clock ticking away, Gukesh could not play his best move and lost a pawn on the Queen’s side. To Liren’s credit, he was spot on in finding the required counter-play on the queenside when Gukesh was making his progress on the other flank.
With 40 moves in 120 minutes to make without any increment on the clock, the time control was not easy for either player to handle but Liren’s experience kept him in good stead.
Gukesh got his final chance on the 30th move when the position would have been a complicated one despite the material deficit but a queen move turned the tide in Liren’s favour.
Liren kept improving and when he grabbed the third pawn on the 41st move, it was almost over. Gukesh tried one last trick but resigned immediately once Liren found the right response.
With 13 games still remaining, Liren will have the advantage of making the first move as white in the second game on Tuesday and Gukesh will try and find a way to come back in the match.
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