Dommaraju Gukesh – youngest world chess champion in history!
Rogozenco shows the key moments of the match in his half-hour video analysis
All World Championship games with analyses by Anish Giri, David Howell, Sam Shankland, Wesley So and others.
The battle for the World Chess Championship between defending champion Ding Liren and Dommaraju Gukesh took place in Singapore from November 25 to December 13, 2024. The match was scheduled for 14 games of classical chess, possibly followed by a rapid chess tiebreak. Since winning the title in 2023, the Chinese player had been struggling with a persistent slump in form as well as psychological problems, while his 18-year-old challenger had consistently delivered excellent results over the same period and had already moved well ahead of him in the rating list. In short, Gukesh was widely regarded as the clear favorite. But the match began with a bang: Ding surprisingly chose French with Black and subsequently gained the upper hand positionally.
After 21....Qd3! at the latest, Black's concept in Gukesh D - Ding,L 0-1 was a complete success. 'Time will tell, but Game 1 really looked like the old Ding again. If he can maintain this form throughout, I think Gukesh will have more trouble than most predicted!' read the commentary by Sam Shankland, who also analyzed the second game.
In this almost symmetrical Italian position Ding pondered 9.a5 for 24 minutes, according to the American the double exchange 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Bxc5 dxc5 would have promised at least a little more play Ding,L - Gukesh Dommaraju ½-½).
In the third game, Gukesh equalized the score.
In Gukesh Dommaraju - Ding,L 1-0 it was all about the black bishop c2, which was trapped after 19.e4! - Wesley So describes the details.
Game 4 saw 'a solid draw from both sides' (Wesley So).
With 15...b6! planning ...c5 Black solved all the opening problems in Ding,L - Gukesh Dommaraju ½-½.
Yannick Pelletier took a closer look at games 5 and 6.
After 27...Be6! (instead of 27...Bc6?) Black could have played for a win without risk in Gukesh Dommaraju - Ding,L ½-½. From this, the Swiss grandmaster draws conclusions about Ding's general attitude in the whole match.
Likewise, with 34.Kc2?! (34.Qg5!) in Ding,L - Gukesh Dommaraju ½-½ the Chinese player probably no longer believed in his chances.
Anish Giri comments on the fighting draw in games 7 and 8, where Ding was on the brink of defeat.
In Gukesh,D - Ding,L ½-½Gukesh,D - Ding,L ½-½ White missed several winning chances, the last one with 44.Bd1? (44.Ke2! -).
'The wrong knight!' - after 26...Ndc5! (instead of 26...Nac5?) Black would have been clearly in control in Ding,L - Gukesh Dommaraju ½-½.
Gukesh Dommaraju - Ding,L ½-½ was, according to Luke McShane, 'one of the most precise games of the match' - and 20.Ne5! (instead of 20.Qb5) was the best chance for White to achieve anything.
In the press conference after the 10th game Ding,L - Gukesh Dommaraju ½-½ Gukesh himself suggested 11.Ne4!? at this point - Martin Breutigam takes a closer look.
After this series of seven draws, Gukesh took the lead for the first time in the match the next day.
After 26...e6? 27.Nc5 Gukesh,D - Ding,L 1-0 lasted only three more moves!
Preliminary decision? Not at all. Ding hit back immediately, and how!
After 17.Qd2! in Ding,L - Gukesh,D 1-0 the powerful white central advance d3-d4 was unstoppable. Insider knowledge of these two games is provided by David Howell, who was on hand as LIve commentator for the match.
In game 13 French came on the board for the third time in the match, and there was a lot going on again!
The critical position from Gukesh Dommaraju - Ding,L ½-½ saw 30...Qf7? (30...Qxe1!=) 31.Ne4? (31.Rxe8+ Rxe8 32.Ne4!+-) Rf8!=. Martin Breutigam has a lot to say about this.
The 14th game flattened out quite quickly and, in view of the reduced material on just one wing, everyone expected a draw and thus a play-off. But then the unbelievable happened:
55.Rf2?? Rxf2 56.Kxf2 Bd5! catapulted Ding into a lost pawn ending, which he resigned immediately. In his comments on Ding,L - Gukesh Dommaraju 0-1 Jan Markos describes the run-up to this blackout - and provides a very human explanation for it.
With this victory, the Indian Dommaraju Gukesh became the 18th world champion in chess history - the youngest of all time at the age of 18!