Long Way Home

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Dommaraju Gukesh
World Chess Championship 2024; match game 4; Sentosa, November 29, 2024
Réti Opening A06

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 Bf5 4. Be2 h6 5. Ba3. By his own admission, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) was thinking of a Queen’s Indian reversed with a tempo ahead. As Dutch Grandmaster Jan Timman pointed out, “The idea of 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s 5. Ba3 is known from Petrosian – Tal, Curaçao ’62”.

5. ... Nbd7 6. 0-0 e6 7. Bxf8 Nxf8 8. c4 N8d7 9. Nc3 0-0 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 c6 12. Nd4 Bh7 13. Qb3 (13. Nb3 Qe7 14. a3 Rfc8 15. Rc1 a5 16. Nxa5 b6 17. Nxc6 Rxc6 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Rxc6 Ne5 20. Rc1 Nd3 21. Rc6 Ne5 22. Rc1 Nd3 23. Ra1 Rd8 24. Bxd3 Bxd3 25. Re1 b5 26. Rc1 Nb6 27. Qh5 ½–½ Flores – Real de Azúa, 90th Argentine Chess Championship, Buenos Aires 2015)
13. ... Ne5 14. a4 Rc8 15. a5 b6

16. Nf3. In absence of any meaningful analytical challenge, most of the post-game commentary focused on the possibility for White to advance his Pawn to f4 somewhere between moves 14 and 16. “f2-f4 was one of the ideas that I always had to consider, here I think after 16. ... Nc4, I am just at least slightly better”, Gukesh said. “I considered f2-f4 but I thought it involved some risk for White and he was not ready to take that risk”.
16. ... Nxf3+ 17. Bxf3 d4 18. Ne2 dxe3 19. dxe3 Be4 20. Rfd1 Qe7 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. axb6 axb6 23. Nc3 Rfd8 24. Nxe4 Qxe4 25. h3 c5 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. bxc5 bxc5 28. Rc1 Qe5 29. Qc2 Rd5 30. g3 f5 31. Kg2 Kh7 32. Qc4 Qd6 33. e4 Re5 34. exf5 Rxf5 35. Qe4 Qd5 36. Qxd5 Rxd5 37. Kf3 Kg6 38. Ke4 Rd4+ 39. Ke3 Rd5 40. Ke4 Rd4+ 41. Ke3 Rd5 42. Ke4 Rd4+ ½–½. The moral is plain: 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) did nothing and got nothing.

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 谢军 (Xiè Jūn) gives her tender loving care to 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) in the hope to restore his peace and favour to Caïssa. Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova.