“Opening preparation is like an iceberg – most of the lines remain under the sea” (Ding Liren)
The sixth game of the FIDE World Championship match, presented by Google, ended in a draw after 46 moves this afternoon. Both players tried everything on the board, probing for mistakes in each other's play, but neither managed to break through.
The Indian challenger, Gukesh D. could have forced a draw on move twenty-six, but instead he chose to play on, arguing that although he thought that he might be slightly worse, there was no reason to not continue and see what happened. The champion Ding Liren was content with the result, but acknowledged that he needed to tighten up his game.
Today’s ceremonial move was performed by Scott Beaumont. A huge chess fan, Scott led Google in Asia Pacific over the last five years, and prior to that in Greater China and Korea. A key person in the partnership, he spearheaded Google's title sponsorship of this historic match: the first ever between two Asian grandmasters.
The use of super computers in high-level chess has completely changed opening preparation. Given that all openings have been analyzed to equality, it is increasingly important to find ideas that can surprise your opponent, gain some time on the clock and trust that they will not be able to find the key equalizing moves over the board.
This afternoon’s game was an excellent example. The champion Ding Liren went for the London system, which he already used successfully in the sixth game of his 2023 World Championship match against Nepomniachtchi. Although Ding is a consummate 1.d4 player, the London is an unusual choice in his opening repertoire.
But Gukesh came well-prepared to the board and blitzed out his first fifteen moves. He was clearly still in his preparation, no doubt following the Aronian-Dominguez game from the 2022 Saint Louis championship, which ended in a three-fold repetition draw quite early in the game.
Meanwhile, in the commentary booth, five-time World Champion and legend of the game Vishy Anand gave his thoughts on both players. “They have contrasting approaches. Ding is very solid with White, not taking a lot of risk yet. On the other hand, Gukesh is pushing it a bit more but every once in a while, he stumbles, like yesterday. I think they are both trying very hard – maybe Gukesh is putting a little bit more pressure but he needs to me more accurate”.
Ding uncorked his novelty on move sixteen (16.dxe5) forcing Gukesh to think out his sixteenth and seventeenth move for more than twenty minutes. Totally focused, he found one of the several lines that promised a more or less balanced position, and it was Ding’s turn to dive deep into thought: it took him over forty minutes to decide upon 21.Qxc6 – apparently, the game was on!
However, suddenly two moves later it seemed that the time came to pack the bags and head over to the press conference: both players were repeating moves.
Put yourself in Gukesh’s shoes. Would you play 26…Qe7, and claim a threefold position draw or go 26…Qh4 and play on?
Rather unexpectedly, Gukesh decided to play on, choosing 26…Qh4 instead of 26…Qe7, claiming a draw. After the game, he clarified his thoughts behind his decision: “I thought I might be slightly worse out of the opening but I wasn’t even sure. But with the files open in front of his king I thought I would always have counterplay and I didn’t see a reason to take the draw repetition. Obviously, I wasn’t playing for a win, I just wanted to play a few more moves and see what happened.”
“That’s the professional way to go – repeat twice, make your opponent think that he has a draw, and at the last moment change your move,” said commentator IM Jovanka Houska in the commentator’s booth. Anand added: “Maybe Ding has studied this position and knows there is counterplay all over the place: in that case, maybe his outlook is different.” A fantastic insight from five-time World Champion!
At some point, most of the online viewers considered Ding’s position to be slightly favorable, but, following a certain trend in this event, the advantage slipped away after a few inaccurate moves. Both players proceeded with caution and eventually exchanged queens, arriving at a fairly balanced rook ending. A draw was agreed on move 46.
The champion Ding Liren was content with the result, noting that the match is even with several more games still to be played. At the same time, he acknowledged the need to sharpen his focus. “I feel like I am letting my advantage slip away at a critical moment. I have to improve this in the following games,” were his thoughts after the game.
“Opening preparation is like an iceberg. The positions you see in the game are the ones that are on top, higher than the sea, but there are a lot of lines that don’t occur, they are all under the sea.”
Before leaving for the day, Vishy praised the young Indian players Gukesh D, Praggnanandhaa R and Arjun Erigaisi. "This is a golden generation; they were grandmasters at a very young age. The thing is they keep growing…You can’t keep talking about this as a future thing, it’s happening right now. They’re all top10 players!"
Tomorrow is the second official rest day for the players. The seventh game of the match is scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, at 5 PM local time in Singapore, with Gukesh playing White.
FACT SHEET, Game 6, FIDE World Championship:
White: Ding Liren
Black: Gukesh D
Result: 0.5-0.5
Game length: 46 moves
Opening: London System
Match score: 3-3
Although the FIDE World Championship is by far the main event, the local organizers along with FIDE have programmed a wide range of side events for all the fans coming to Sentosa for the match.
On the agenda this afternoon, five-time World Champion GM Vishy Anand offered a 10-board simultaneous exhibition for VIP ticket holders, and then gave his thoughts on the game in progress as a guest in the commentary room.
Additionally, popular chess streamers IM Eric Rosen and WGM Nemo joined host IM Irene Sukandar in the fan-zone, providing entertainment for the hundreds of onsite spectators.
A batch of photos from the game is available here:
flickr.com/photos/fide/albums/72177720322292724
Written by IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)
Photos: Eng Chin An and Maria Emelianova
Official website: worldchampionship.fide.com/
Full programme of side-events: worldchampionship.fide.com/events
About the event
Current World Champion Ding Liren, representing China, and challenger Gukesh D, from India, will face each other in a fourteen-game classical chess match. The player who scores 7.5 points or more will win the match, picking up the better part of the $2.5 million total prize fund.
The first of the fourteen scheduled games will take place on Monday, November 25 at 5 pm. Gukesh will open with White. The match will be hosted at the luxurious Resorts World Sentosa and will be broadcasted live with expert commentary on the FIDE YouTube Channel.
