That was a absolutely horrible finish to a really exciting championship if you ask me.
For anyone who doesn't know, there was a lot of drama because Gukesh was playing amazingly coming into this (eg winning the gold medal on board 1 at the olympiad in crushing style) and Ding had been playing terribly. Then there were 13 games of back and forth with stalwart defending and imaginative computer preparation by both sides, playing a lot of fresh chess and both of them going for the most critical and challenging moves in each position. Ding was playing a lot better than a lot of people had expected and the previous game had been one of the best games in a world championship for a long time. Everything was tied going into the last game of the classical portion and the "bar room consensus" was that since Gukesh was so young and doesn't focus at all on the faster forms of chess (rapid and blitz) and is therefore much lower rated than Ding in those formats, that if this game was a draw then Ding would be a substantial favourite in the ensuing tiebreaks.
The final game was a complex struggle, with Ding keeping everything in lockdown with the white pieces so as not to give Gukesh a ghost of a chance. Most of the pieces had been traded and it was the most drawish of drawn endgames. Gukesh was up a pawn, but they both had a rook and bishop and all Ding had to do was hang on to his pieces and keep them well away from the enemy king. On the stream I was watching IM David Pruess had just been asked by someone in chat whether Gukesh could win and he said "1% chance".
Then all of a sudden Ding made 3 bad moves in a row. The first two were just poor endgame technique, putting his rook and bishop both on bad squares too close to the enemy king, then the real blunder. Completely inexplicably he traded off the pieces. Now he was in an endgame that was just dead lost. After 14 games of 4+ hours each It had gone from being a dead draw with him a big favourite in tie breaks to all over in a few seconds.
Remarkable to watch the reactions in real-time, of both players and fans from India at the moment the decisive move is played. https://www.youtube.com/live/5-uuDuGQLQA?t=14497s.
Only started following chess due to the covid shutdowns, much for fun from a fans point of view than I had imagined it would be. Having the computer evaluation at the side really helps novices like me to know what's going on, interestingly a case of superior computer players helping as mere mortals to appreciate the game.
Wow. What a match. Been watching with my son, a chess lover since we started watching the Magnus-Fabi match. Now, my son loves his chess club and has retired me from playing :-)
Two thoughts:
1) Gukesh took Ding into the deep water the entire time. Few people realize how draining chess is, especially at that level for this time control. It's beyond gruelling. Only programming is more difficult ;-)
2) Gukesh had an extraordinary advantage. His mental health and resilience over the course of the match were a testament to it. And, then, his graciousness, thankfulness, and humble joy demonstrated the Way. It was That which Gukesh first thanked in his post-match interview with GM Mo. It was how he first began each game.
And That was the difference. That said, being 18 didn't hurt either :-)
First of all, I have the greatest respect for the two individuals who played their hearts out in this event.
Personally, I'm on the side which thinks that this format is a total stagnation. Maybe the new no-increment under 40 moves is an improvement, but overall it does not count. I agree with Carlsen that the format has to be drastically changed to determine who is the better player. Much more games, shorter games. Fischer said a long time ago that chess is dead. Considering how deep some of the variations go into theoretical territory, I can surely relate. Magnus has also expressed that it's very hard to find novelties. I'm also totally on the side that Fischer Random (chess 960) has to be included in this tournament. I believe that ultimately it will happen - sooner or later. Magnus also said that he thinks that his match with Caruana was of extremely high quality - those 14 games were all draws. I totally understand why Magnus didn't want to defend his title. On the other hand I can't comprehend how FIDE let this happen because a lot of people don't think of current tournament as high as they maybe should be, just because Magnus is not participating. That's a shame. Not on Carlsen, not on chess. On FIDE.
I enjoyed the entire match and was surprised to see Ding putting up such a good fight given his poor form going into the match and Gukesh's great form after leading India to gold at the Olympiads.
Ding was inconsistent at times but had moments of brilliance where he played like an engine, unfortunately he also exhibited poor time management throughout the match and failed to capitalize on his chances where he instead seemed content to play for draws whereas Gukesh would take every opportunity to play on, even when it would require taking a slight disadvantage.
Unfortunately the last game was lost more than it was won, as Ding was looking for every chance to draw where he gave up a pawn in order to trade queens and a pair of rooks to go into an equal pawn down end game, which he eventually blundered under time pressure. It's a common sentiment in chess that to get a draw you have to play for a win, ultimately Gukesh's tenacity to keep games going and applying constant pressure eventually rewarded him as history's youngest Chess World Champion.
At 18, this is no small thing. Kasparov was 22, I don't see Gukesh's record being broken for a long while
What is the deal with Gukesh's last name? It's officially listed as just D on his FIDE profile. I asked a couple Indian coworkers who said it was probably just being abbreviated for being long, but honestly it's not that long of a name and Gukesh isn't from the same region as them. I've read elsewhere that Telugu speaking people don't really use last names.
IMHO Gukesh is a great role model for everyone. Determination and humility shining right through. Though I really like Ding, it just felt that Gukesh was pushing more for a win in all the games and probably deserve this slightly more.
Now hope that Magnus comes back into Candidates and we we have a Gukesh vs Magnus match in 2026.
What a match! It was sad to see the blunder by Ding. Reminded me of Nepo dropping pieces in the tie-break last time. But its a great sportmanship by Ding as he said its a fair outcome given all the games they have played.
For anyone that wants to test their mettle, the FEN of the key position in this game was:
B7/8/4b3/4kp2/5Rp1/6P1/1r6/6K1 w - - 16 55
Give yourself 10 minutes and 30 seconds increment as White and see if you can hold against Stockfish on maximum difficulty.
It was quite sad to see Ding lose at the end. But it's been a very tough year and half or so. Precisely since he won the championship.
I was quite sad at the way some very top players spoke of him.
But the way he came back and almost took the game to tie breaks was unbelievable as a Ding fan.
At the end of the day, it's generational shift that chess is witnessing.
Almost written in destiny that it all started with candidates about how Alireza played against Gukesh and where it is now!
Since there seem to be a lot of chess nerds in here, I have a question.
Why didn't Fischer chess ever take off? A lot of comments in here amount to "he went slightly off book and it was amazing!".
Wouldn't Fischer chess take the game to a whole new level, making it so that all the opening books are useless and the midgame requires much more improv?
It seems like Team Ding's strategy was to survive until tie breaks, where he would have been the favorite. Given Ding's form, they probably didn't believe he could reliably win games in classical versus an in-form Gukesh.
As such, Ding went for draws in multiple games with clearly superior positions that someone like e.g. Magnus Carlsen would have played out and won. I'm sure they regret that strategy now.
It was painful watching Ding Liren blunder the rook and realize what he had done.
Spoiler alert! I was planning to watch the recap without knowing the outcome, but I'm not that invested. Congratulations to the new champion.
Why would you spoil match 14 for me like this T_T
Just the World Champion. Youngest FIDE World Champion (the title Gukesh just won) was Ruslan Ponomaryov, at 6681 days old. Gukesh is currently 6772 days old.
(And no, we shouldn't go arguing that Ponomaryov wasn't a real champion because the indisputably best player chose not to play sometimes earlier and created all that mess, because currently we're in exactly same situation.)
Terrible time management from Ding Liren in the most critical game of the match, leading to a very simple blunder. Painful to witness.
Worst WCC in the history of chess. I would have been able to draw the endgame in the final game myself ( 1800 FIDE ) just by shuffling the rook around. Apart from game one, Ding was a shade of his former self, and played most of the time to swap pieces even when he had the initiative.
Why would you loudly proclaim "youngest world champion in history" in the headline and then never mention his age at any point? I clicked the article specifically looking for the answer to "how old is he" and was thoroughly disappointed. Author is fired from journalism permanently.
Just in case anyone besides me was wondering, he's 18 (the article didn't say).
How come Gukesh got to sit in a really tall gaming-style chair which towers above Ding’s ordinary looking chair?
To me that looks like a power move designed to intimidate the opposition. Is there a story behind it or do they just get to choose their own chairs?
Here's a really good explainer video of the blunder at the end. https://youtu.be/FJU4BXsZCvg?si=qC961oYH3wkB6Vyk&t=925
Two of the most humble, kind, professional players. And a great match.
It's quite surprising what the brain can do to people under stress.
Everybody, even chess amateurs knew that the rook trade was a blunder instantly, yet pressure can play such terrible jokes.
Well, Ding's prediction was right, it wasn't a short draw. Horrible end to a another pretty disappointing cycle. Ding's game 12 win to tie the match was a positional masterpiece but it ultimately seems fitting that his blunder decided the result. Hope he gets a long break from classical chess and finds his way back to enjoying the game.
At least they could mention the age...
Did Magnus not compete?
Not an expert in chess, but I heard that the uniqueness in openings were an interesting characteristic of the match. Can someone explain this to me?
One of the worst-played matches in the history of the world championships. Both players made huge mistakes, decisive mistakes in previous matches, and a decisive mistake in this last one. What happened to Ding? Ten years ago he was playing great chess, which was a pleasure to watch. Gukesh was playing a nervous game, making mistakes by players much lower than his rating. At times it seemed like two Fide Masters playing. Terrible. Carlsen did well to give up the title, because any of the challengers for the title today would be no match for him.
Moral of the game, don't ever put white bishop in the white coner, or black bishop vice versa in the end game because it can be forced to sacrifice.
He is considering https://chessladders.com/ sponsorship deal.
FYI: Gukesh is 18 yrs old and the youngest World Champion. He is also the 18th champion, in its 138 years history.
Must be amazing getting started off in life with such an amazing title out of the gate
Congrats to Gukesh
Let's convert that chess knowledge to deep learning for more $
So that’s it for Magnus Carlson’s perfect streak?
Congratulations Gukesh! Amazing run, truly living a dream.
So does Magnus unretire?
He's 18.
surprised guke.sh isn't taken
well yeah, but only because of Magnus.
For being the headline, they sure hid his age pretty well.
Not at the opening paragraph nor end of the article, nor photo captions near the top or bottom.
cmd+f "years" 0 results
cmd+f "age" 0 results
And scanning for numbers is useless since most of the article is chess moves written out.
Also as a great symbolism of our times: An Indian beat a Chinese. India is rising while China is already in decline.
I am not happy with this result (quite the blunder deciding this match) and in general who played for the crown here. Ding is not in the top for a while now and Gukesh has rarely played in Top GM tourns. The silent champ (Magnus) is still around, winning tournaments.
"World champion" currently means "some lucky Top GM" and not "the undisputed number one".
This was a great match overall, with a very dramatic/surprising end.
But I disagree with other comments that are describing the overall championship in a favorable light.
To me, this was some of the most boring chess I've watched. Ding was certainly trying to force draws in every game, which makes for some very unexciting lines. It's been suggested that Ding felt he had better chances in rapid formats, so forcing draws makes sense in that light. But it led to some extremely uncreative chess imo.
Reminds me of many of the Magnus vs Fabi games in 2018.
I was struck by Ding's thoughtfulness, objectivity and humility when asked how he felt after the match (while clearly utterly dejected):
> How do you feel?
> I think I played my best tournament of the year. I think it was a fair tournament in the end. I have no regrets.
> Any message for fans?
> Thank you, I will continue to play, I hope I can show strength like this time.
Gukesh was equally as objective, humble, and gentlemanly in victory.
These attributes are what makes chess and its superstars so appealing.