Little Goes a Long Way

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) – Dommaraju Gukesh
World Chess Championship 2024; match game 6; Singapore, December 1, 2024
Queen’s Pawn Game D02

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Qa4 0-0 10. Qa3 Ne4 11. Nfd2

11. ... e5 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxc5 Qg6 14. Nd2 Qxg2 15. 0-0-0 Qxf2 16. dxe5 Rb8 17. Nc4 Be6 18. Rd2 Qf3 19. Re1 Bxc4 20. Qxc4 Qf5 21. Qxc6 Qxe5 22. Qd5 Qe7 23. Qd6 Qg5 24. Qd5 Qe7 25. Qd6 Qg5 26. Qd5 Qh4. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) then said that Gukesh’s refusal to repeat moves took him greatly by surprise, as in his opinion the Black Queen seems to not give the impression that it stands too well on the Kingside.

27. Red1 g6 28. Qe5 Rbe8 29. Qg3 Qh5 30. Qf4 Qa5 31. a3 Qb5 32. Rd4 Qe2 33. R1d2 Qf3

34. Kc2. In his article for The Guardian, Bryan Armen Graham writes: “But with time pressure mounting for both players ahead of the first time control, 丁 (Dīng) seemingly gave up his advantage with a Queen exchange (34. Kc2!?). The position simplified into a Rook endgame, with neither player able to find a breakthrough before the game concluded with a series of repetitions after 4hr 15min”.
Critical was 34. Qg5! preserving White’s initiative and advantage.
34. ... Qxf4 35. exf4 f5 36. h4 e3 37. Re2 Re7 38. Kd3 Rfe8 39. h5 gxh5 40. Rd5 h4 41. Rxf5 Rd7+ 42. Kc2 Kg7 43. Rg2+ Kh8 44. Re2 Kg7 45. Rg2+ Kh8 46. Re2 Kg7 ½–½.

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) is still in search of his own true self. Photo: Eng Chin An.