World Championship Game 8: An adventurous draw
The eighth game of FIDE World Championship Match 2024, presented by Google, was an absolute thriller. The defending world champion, employed his trusty 1.c4 for the first time in this match. However, the Challenger managed to surprise him with 7...f6. Obviously it was part of his deep preparation. Gukesh thanked his team for coming up with it and hoped that his team will continue to surprise his opponent with such unique moves in the opening. Later, it was the teenager who first got a winning opportunity. He misplaced his knight into a pin which soon fell into a cross pin. He lost an exchange. However, Ding Liren wanted to repeat moves instead of pushing for a win. Gukesh refused as he did not feel his position to be that bad, eventually the game ended in a draw. Game 9 starts tomorrow at 5 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. Photo: FIDE/Maria Emelianova
No repetition, just keep fighting
"In the last world championship match, there were lots of ups and downs, not so many perfect games... Today during the game I didn't realize that I was winning at some point. I think he missed some important details... He had totally outplayed me. Actually, I didn't feel so much nervous during the game. I just felt uncomfortable out of the opening." - Ding Liren on internal pressure during the game.
"Actually, this position where I didn't repeat, I didn't think I was in much danger. I always thought with his weak king and my strong pawn on b3, I should have play. I thought maybe I might have some chances. It was just a misjudgment of the position." - Gukesh on why decided to decline the repetition and continue the game.
As I said, I didn't think like I was in a lot of danger. Obviously if I knew the position was bad, I would have taken the draw. - D Gukesh
Ding Liren - Gukesh: 0.5-0.5
Ding Liren employed his favorite 1.c4 for the first time in the match. 1...e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Be7 4.Nf3 d6 5.g3 c6 6.Nxe7 Nxe7 7.Bg2 f6
"I wanted to play something like 8.b4 gain some space on the queenside Be6 9.d3 d5 10.Qc2 but then I decided to play the natural move 8.0-0" - Ding Liren on why he paused after 7...f6.
"I thought I was much better, probably close to winning. Since my opponent played 23.Rb1, b5 also just looked like a very very strong move. Probably I was better but soon he found this 25.Bb2 and 26.Bd4, the position is very tricky. I had to be very precise which I did not." - Gukesh on whether he thought he was better after 22...b5.
"It was part of my preparation. I would also like to mention that my team is doing a great job, not only Gaju but my other team members as well and we managed to surprise him in the opening. They are doing a great job. I would like to thank my team so far and hopefully more such interesting ideas will come." - Gukesh on his preparation behind 7...f6.
"This 26...Ndc5 just looked weird to me. So I was mainly considering Nac5 and I thought what I did in the game, must be winning. I guess with the knight on d7, he always has some tricks with Bh3. I need to watch out for the unpleasant pin. I just didn't realize that 26...Ndc5 was strong. It was also based on the fact that I missed 28.Qe1. 28...Nac5 29.Rc1 Bb3 I thought 30.Qd2 b4 is just winning for me but I missed Qe1... It was very impressive that my opponent found this Qe1 so quickly, a great difference." - Gukesh explained why he opted for 26...Nac5 instead of Ndc5.
"Just when I was calculating Ndc5, he played 26...Nac5." - Ding Liren.
"I was just trying to develop my pieces and see what happens." - The world champion answered when asked whether he felt he was winning or if he had some chances.
"I kind of felt like I lost control but I never thought I was losing because it's just a very concrete position. You either see the trick or not. I saw this position which happened in the game with 32.Nc6 Rxc6 33.Bxc6 Qxc6 34.Bxc5 I thought probably all my advantage has gone but I did not think it was even bad for me. 34...h6 now that I see the position, it's quite obvious but during the game it was not." - Gukesh on if he felt he was in big trouble once he was on the verge of losing an exchange.
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Every game starts at 5 p.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST. There is a rest day after every three games.
