Gukesh took a decisive step towards becoming the 18th world chess champion by forcing Ding Liren to resign in game 11 of the title clash in Singapore on Sunday.
After a 29-move submission by Holder, both players gave their thoughts on how the fight played out. Gukesh later described the game as a roller coaster.
Here’s how the players rated the action in their own words:
4 e3 Nf6 and 5 a3 Bg4 (where Ding spent almost an hour)
Ding: “Game 11 was a difficult game for me. By move 4, I was already thinking that it was the right move. I remembered that I once played this game in a quick tournament against B Adhiban. But I forgot what to do with the other moves. .Then Gukesh played 5.A3 which surprisingly went nowhere to count some nonsense.
Gukesh: “I knew the match he played with Adhiban. 5.a3 was a new move my team showed me last night and I like the idea. It’s a rare move.”
11. g3 (when Gukesh spent an hour)
Gukesh: “I don’t know what I was thinking at that point. I was counting so many different lines. I knew it was a little bit better, but I couldn’t figure out the right way… I was drifting with all these long lines. I was on my own. Really freaked out. I was getting less on the clock, but I thought I should take a break and refresh myself at that moment. So I just went to my lounge, spent a few minutes to calm myself down. I said to myself, ‘Okay, now I’ve blown the advantage (on the clock), now let me just do one move at a time and don’t make any more mistakes.’
Game 11 | FIDE World Championship, presented by Google.
◽️White: Gukesh D 🇮🇳
◾️Black: Ding Liren 🇨🇳
⚔️ Result: 1 – 0
♟ Match Score: 6 – 5 (in favor of Gukesh)
↔️ Game length: 29 moves
📖 Inauguration: Sand Inauguration
⚙️ Variation: Reverse Blumenfeld Gambit #Dinggukesh pic.twitter.com/a3AOwRWOVy– International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 8, 2024
14.Qf4
Gukesh: “I think around this point, I was already kicking myself really bad. It was such a normal position and then all of a sudden my queen got stuck on f4 and I didn’t know what to do. I was just kicking myself. I needed something to get back into the game. There were problems. I was just trying to take it one step at a time and not lose on the spot.”
15…g6
Ding: “When I played 15.g6, it was a terrible move. I missed a4 (Gukesh’s next move was 16.a4). If I had played e6 (the computer showed that Ding could make it here), the situation would probably have been worse. No! After 15.g6, my bishop was clearly out of the game and I didn’t think I had a chance after that.”
Gukesh: “I was surprised when Ding thought he was in trouble after g6. Because I felt like I was in trouble. Yes, it was just a difference of opinion. Perhaps, he was right. Maybe after 15…g6, I’m already out of danger. But I certainly didn’t feel like I was good. I was surprised by (Ding’s rating). I think I may be right. Because this position does not look dangerous for black. So, maybe I’m right.”
Interactive: Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren
You can check out the move by move action from Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren and also play in the interactive below.
16.a4
Gukesh: “A4, I think, was a very important resource because initially I didn’t know what to do in this situation. And then I saw a4. I was like, ‘Well, at least I can play Bishop A3, Bishop C5 and sit.’
21.Na3 and 22.Nc2
Ding: “After 21.Na3, I started to feel the difficulty of the game.
Gukesh: “Until I played the knight on c2 (22.Nc2), I did not know that I had a chance to capture the game. And after this, the game went very fast. Yes, (at this stage), both of us had less time than the number of moves we had to make. So, it was almost like a blitz game.