The defeat was registered by Indian chess master D. Gukesh against reigning world champion Ding Liren in Game 11 of the FIDE chess championship underway in Singapore to be 1-0 ahead of his opponent and 3/2 away from tied topping at the end of the game. After seven successive draws, the 18-year-old made full use of a typical blunder committed by Ding Liren in a dramatic time scramble at the end.
The game started with Gukesh’s alertness to the upcoming productive control plans as he compelled Ding to take more than an hour on the first five moves, with about 38 minutes for the fourth move calculation.
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While Ding played higher-ranked players impressively in faster conditions, he froze under pressure; he resigned his queen to c8 (28.Qc8) and decided on the loss. Embarrassed, Ding admitted that he took precious minutes to “calculate the frigging variations.
”This victory points to a possible shift of fortunes in the championship, with Gukesh in a position to grab the title while the victory is music to Ding’s ear after his loss, though he still has a fight ahead of him.