World Championship Game 11: Ding Liren collapses under pressure, Gukesh gains the lead
D Gukesh has gained a lead for the first time at FIDE World Championship Match 2024, presented by Google. In an intense and complex game, Gukesh held on to his nerves. While his opponent, world champion, made a one move blunder in crunch, lost a piece and resigned immediately. Gukesh now just needs to survive the next three games to become the youngest world champion in history. Ding Liren has a surmountable task of winning as early as possible in the next three games to get back in the match and quite possibly force tie-breaks. The teenager just needs to play solid for the next three games and make his opponent take some risks which can result in few more losses for the world champion. Game 12 starts tomorrow at 5 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Eng Chin An
Gukesh scores a crucial win
"It's a very difficult game for me. On move four, I'm already wondering if this is the right move. 5.b5 Nbd7 I remember once I played this game against Adhiban in a Rapid tournament but I forgot what to do with other moves. He played this 4...Nf6 also came as a surprise. So I had to think once again. The 40 minutes just went nowhere. I calculated just some nonsense variations. " - Ding Liren's impression of the game. "Last time also in twelfth round, I made a comeback with white pieces. Tomorrow also, I will definitely try." - The world champion on comebacks.
"I was happy when I saw him think because I was still quite well prepared in that position. I thought it's not easy to figure out. Yeah I was happy to get the time advantage." - Gukesh on his opponent spending 38 minutes on move no.4.
...It usually happens when you think you are just losing, you get some chance, you get out of danger, then suddenly you see that you can actually take over the game. It is a very pleasant feeling. - D Gukesh
Gukesh - Ding Liren: 1-0
D Gukesh played 1.Nf3 for the second time in this match. He opted for Blumenfeld Gambit. This time the world champion, Ding Liren went for 2...d4 which is known to create relatively imbalanced positions. Probably he wanted to get a game. When asked about his choice of d4, he answered, "Maybe I should have played 2...e6, considering what happened. I thought I know something in d4 but I don't know the way he played." 3.b4 c5 4.e3 then the world champion thought for 40 minutes before playing Nf6 5.a3 was a new move
"I was aware of this game that he played with Adhiban in '21 after 5.b5 Nbd7. 5.a3 was a new move which is almost never played before I think. I don't know if it is a novelty but it is very rare at least. It's something that my team had prepared, showed me last night and I really liked the idea. So, full credit to my team but what happened after this, it's just horrible by me." - D Gukesh.
"...I have many options like 5...a5 also I don't know maybe e5 was playable. Then I went for 5...Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Qc7 8.d3 a5 here I think he played the best move 9.g3 to allow attacking the d3-pawn
15.Rd1 he defended it this way. I think this was the critical moment where I played a horrible move 15...g6 I missed a4. I should have played 15...e6. Maybe the position is not so bad. After 15...g6 my bishop went clearly out of play and I don't think I have any chance after this." - Ding Liren
"15.Rd1 g6 I thought I was in trouble here already which is probably right. I was just trying to make some moves to not lose on the spot. I think after 16.a4 h5 I spotted this b6 idea. I thought when I played 17.b6, at least I am getting out of the worst right now. Until I played 22.Nc2 I didn't realize that I actually had some chances to take over the game. After this, things went quickly but probably we both were like had less time than the number of moves we had to make. It was almost like a blitz game." - Gukesh shared his impressions on Game 11.
"I knew this position was slightly better for me. 9.d3 a5 10.b5 Nbd7 11.g3 Nc5 I don't know where I could have improved but I spent so much time and came up with this stupid plan..." - D Gukesh
"Here I thought I am fine after 20...Nc6 but I missed 21.Na3 very strong idea to give up the b6-pawn, doubling on b-file and play on dark squares. My bishop is totally out of place, not on e7. It is very badly placed on h6. I don't know where I can improve.
Maybe after 25.Na1 Nb4 26.Nb3 b6 after 27.c5 it's very very difficult... After 21.Na3 I sensed the difficulty of the game." - Ding Liren.
"I think 25...Na7 was his last chance, at least I thought during the game. Take everything Rb8 and if I go back, he just goes Nc6-b4. I thought this was his best try. Once he played 25...Rb8 I thought it's really tough for him." - D Gukesh
The world champion made the final mistake 28...Qc8?? which dropped the knight 29.Qxc6 the world champion almost resigned instantaneously.
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Crowd reaction at The Habitat in Mumbai, Maharashtra after Gukesh's victory in Game 11
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Schedule
Every game starts at 5 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. There is a rest day after every three games.
