Nothing Daunted

Dommaraju Gukesh – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
World Chess Championship 2024; match game 5; Sentosa, November 30, 2024
French Defence C01

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5. Fear can work miracles.
3. ... exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 c4 7. Bc2 Bd6 8. Qe2+ Qe7 9. Qxe7+ Kxe7 10. 0-0 Re8 11. Re1+ Kf8 12. Rxe8+ Kxe8 13. Bg5 Nbd7 14. Nbd2 h6 15. Bh4 Nh5 16. Re1+ Kf8

17. g4!? A bold venture, apparently trying to squeeze blood from a turnip. On the other hand, if 17. Nf1 then 17. ... g5 18. Bg3 Nxg3 19. Nxg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Nf6= 21. a4 Bd7 22. Ne5 Be8 23. Nf3 Rc8 24. Nd2 b6 25. Nf1 Bd7 26. Ne3 Rb8 27. Ra1 Ke7 28. f3 h5 29. Kf2 Kd6 30. Ke2 Re8 31. Kd2 Rg8 32. Ke2 Re8 33. Kd2 Rg8 34. Ke2 Re8 ½–½ V. Damjanović – J. Kramer, 24th European Individual Chess Championship, Petrovac 2024.
17. ... Nf4 18. Bg3 Nb6 19. g5 hxg5 20. Nxg5. With the brutal threat of 21. Nh7+ Kg8 22. Re8+ followed by mate.
20. ... Bd7 21. Ngf3 Re8 22. Ne5 Bxe5 23. dxe5? Dazed and frustrated by his own poverty of theory, Gukesh committs an error of bad judgment, putting himself in trouble for no reason. He should have retaken with the Rook.

23. ... Nd3! 24. Bxd3 cxd3 25. f3 (25. b3 Rc8∓)
25. ... Nc4 26. Nxc4 dxc4 27. Re4

27. ... Bc6. “I don’t know why my opponent did not play 27. ... Be6 28. Rd4 Rc8”, Gukesh said afterwards. “I was very worried about this position”. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has the answer ready: “I didn’t see the ... Re8-c8, ... Rc8-c5 and move the King to the Kingside like some kind of Berlin Pawn structure. I didn’t realize that it’s a big advantage for me”.
28. Rd4. Of course, the Pawn is taboo (28. Rxc4?? Rd8 winning decisive material).
28. ... Bxf3 29. Kf2 Bc6. A tacit draw offer, probably not so out of place. “I knew that I should be slightly worse after 29. ... Bh5 but I thought with an active Rook, I should be able to hold”, Gukesh said.
30. Rxc4 Rd8 31. Rd4 Rxd4 32. cxd4 Bd5 33. b3 Ke7 34. Ke3 Ke6 35. Kxd3 g6 36. Kc3 a6 37. Kd3 Kf5 38. Ke3 Ke6 39. Kd3 Kf5 40. Ke3 Ke6 ½–½.

“The results are not ideal because I have some chances in some games to lead by some points, and it’s even”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) said. “Also today after some quick check I had some advantage which I didn’t realize, so there is something to improve”. Photo: Eng Chin An.