韓達拉 (Handala)

Dommaraju Gukesh – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
World Chess Championship 2024; match game 13; Sentosa, December 11, 2024
French Defence C11

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2. In place of 5. f4 as in the match game 1.
5. ... c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. a3 Be7 8. Be3 Nb6 9. Nf4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Nge2. 12. Qg4 might have been better for attacking purpose, but afterwards Gukesh said he didn’t realise it.
12. ... b5 13. 0-0 0-0 14. Nc3 Rb8 15. Nh5 f5 16. exf6 Bxf6

17. Qf3. An interesting conversation occurred between the two combatants in the post-game press conference as they were analysing 17. Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. d5 exd5 19. Qxd5+ Qe6: “I didn’t really see anything special”, said Gukesh; and 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén): “20.Rfd1 I think you are slightly better here”.
17. ... Qe8. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) then regarded 17. ... Nxd4 18. Nxf6+ Rxf6 19. Qd1 e5! 20. Bg5 Bf5 as a potentially better line of play for Black.
18. Nxf6+ Rxf6 19. Qe2 Qg6 20. f3 Rf8 21. Rad1 Ne7

22. Bf4. “I had seen earlier that (when) he plays ... Nc6-e7 I have Be3-f4, a nice trick. I thought once I get Bf4-d6, I should have quite a nice advantage which probably was the case”, Gukesh said. “But I couldn’t see the knockout blow. Maybe there wasn’t one”.
22. ... Rb6 23. Bc7 Rb7 24. Bd6 Re8 25. Bxe7. “I didn’t think allowing ... Ne7-d5 was a great idea. I will still be better but I thought with the Knight on d5 yes, his defensive chances are better”, said Gukesh.
25. ... Rexe7 26. Qe5 a6 27. d5 exd5 28. Qxd5+ Qe6 29. Qc5 Re8 30. Rde1 Qf7? A mistake that could cost 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) dearly. Black had to give up the Queen for two Rooks: 30. ... Qxe1! 31. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 32. Kf2 Re5 33. Ne4 Rbe7 34. Nd6 Re5!= (35. Qc7 can be answered by 35. ... R5e7 and 35. Qc6 by 35. ... R5e6).
31. Ne4? Too much haste to deliver the “knockout blow”. Better first 31. Rxe8+ Rxe8 and then 32. Ne4, leaving Black resourceless.

“My first intention was to play 31. ... Rc7 after 31. Ne4 runs into a very nice check 32. Nf6+! I almost gave up. I didn’t find any move to survive, to stay in the game. In the end I found a nice resource 31. ... Rf8”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) said.
31. ... Rf8! 32. Nd6 Rc7. “It was an unpleasant surprise”, Gukesh admitted. “I thought I could still press a bit, but I was hoping to get Queen-Rook with a three vs two Pawns endgame. Once the Queens are exchanged it’s just a draw”.
33. Qe5 Qf6 34. Qd5+ Kh8 35. Re5 Re7 36. Rfe1 Rxe5 37. Rxe5 h6 38. Qc5 Bd7 39. Ne4 Qf4 40. Re7 Bf5 41. Qd4 Rg8 42. h3 Qc1+ 43. Kf2 Bxe4 44. Rxe4 c3 45. bxc3 Qxa3 46. Kg3 Qb3 47. Re7 a5 48. Rb7 Qc4 49. Qe5 Qc6 50. Qxb5 Qxc3 51. Ra7 Qe1+ 52. Kh2 Qb4 53. Qxb4 axb4 54. Rb7 Ra8 55. Rxb4 Ra2 56. Kg3 Kh7 57. Rb5 Kg6 58. f4 Kf6 59. Kf3 Rc2 60. g3 Rc3+ 61. Kg4 Ra3 62. h4 Rc3 63. Rb6+ Kf7 64. f5 h5+ 65. Kf4 Rc4+ 66. Kf3 $0 $11 Rc3+ 67. Kf4 Rc4+ 68. Kf3 Rc3+ ½–½.

“Firstly, I am very tired after a long game”, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) said eventually. “Secondly, I am yet to decide what's the strategy for the next game which is a Golden game”. Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova.