World Chess Championship 2024 Game 3: How D Gukesh outfoxed Ding Liren and scripted a sensational comeback

D Gukesh is back in the ongoing World Chess Championship 2024 by beating Ding Liren in Round 3 on Wednesday. The scores (1.5 each) are now levelled with 11 more games to go in the battle for the coveted world chess title. Gukesh’s victory on Wednesday was important for various reasons . A win or draw for Liren would have given him a significant points advantage in a World Chess Championship where the first player to reach 7.5 points will be declared winner. Also, this is Gukesh’s first win over Liren in a classical game , giving the 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster the much-needed morale advantage for the rest of the series.

The victory in game three came as Liren lost on time against Gukesh but it was the result of some excellent preparation by the Indian Grandmaster who exuded confidence even after losing the first match in the Championship.

Playing with the white pieces, Gukesh opened the match and followed the same pattern from a Vladimir Kramnik vs Arjun Erigaisi match at the World Rapid Team till the 13.hxg4.

Ding though struggled to remember that game and went 13.Nbd7 instead of Arjun’s 13.Bxb3. And this is where Ding started to lose the match as he took 33 minutes to recall the 2023 match.

“I was prepared until 13th move. I guess he was trying to remember something, maybe he mixed up something. I thought how he reacted was not the most precise way. Then I think I just got a very nice position after 15.g5. All these 17.f3, 19.e4 looks really shaky for Black,” Gukesh said after his victory.

The next few moves were the following:

• Nd2 Rg8

• g5 Nh5

• Bh2 Rh8

• f3 Ng7

• Bg3 Rh5

It was that Rh5 on the 18th move by Ding that gave Gukesh a significant advantage as the evaluation engine also showed the Indian was on +1.31.

“I think my position was in trouble because a normal move 18…Ne6 doesn’t work due to 19.Rc1. Also, 18…Be7 I refuted due to 19.Rc1 Bf5 20.e4 Be6 21.exd5 Bxd5 22.Nxd5 cxd5 23.Rc7 after Ne6 24.Rxb7 a6,” Liren said about the trouble he faced after playing 18.Rh5.

Liren also said that missing 23.Ne2 was a mistake.

While Gukesh kept playing the right moves, Ding was always under pressure once he started to lose control. He was left with making eight moves in a minute and 49 seconds and eventually lost on time. It was the first time since the 1993 World Chess Championship between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short that a player lost a match after running out of time.

All the moves:

2. d4 Nf6

3. Nf3 d5

4. c4 e6

5. cxd5 exd5

6. Nc3 c6

7. Qc2 g6

8. h3 Bf5

9. Qb3 Qb6

10. g4 Qxb3

11. axb3 Bc2

12. Bf4 h5

13. Rg1 hxg4

14. hxg4 Nbd7

15. Nd2 Rg8

16. g5 Nh5

17. Bh2 Rh8

18. f3 Ng7

19. Bg3 Rh5

20. e4 dxe4

21. fxe4 Ne6

22. Rc2 Nxd4

23. Bf2 Bg7

24. Ne2 Nxb3

25. Rxc2 Nxd2

26. Kxd2 Ne5

27. Nd4 Rd8

28. Ke2 Rh2

29. Bg2 a6

30. b3 Rd7

31. Rcc1 Ke7

32. Rcd1 Ke8

33. Bg3 Rh5

34. Nf3 Nxf

35. Kxf3 Bd4

36. Rh1 Rxg5

37. Bh3 f5

38. Bf4 Rh5

The fourth match of the World Chess Championship 2024 will be played on Friday (29 November) from 2.30 PM IST.