World Chess Championship, Game 3: Gukesh bounces back to beat Ding with Whites, restores parity after third round

The world’s youngest World Championship challenger, India’s D. Gukesh, made a strong comeback, handing defending champion China’s Ding Liren his first loss of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 in the third round at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore on Wednesday.

India’s D. Gukesh beats China’s Ding Liren in the third round of World Chess Championship. | Photo Credit: FIDE/Eng Chin An

The world’s youngest World Championship challenger, India’s D. Gukesh, made a strong comeback, handing defending champion China’s Ding Liren his first loss of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2024 in the third round at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore on Wednesday.

Playing with Whites, Gukesh avenged his first-round loss to Ding in the Queen’s Gambit Declined Game.

Gukesh had lost to Ding in the opening round with lighter pieces in the French Game.

The 18-year-old GM from Chennai was aggressive from the get go, forcing his opponent to delve in deep thinking from the start.

By the 37th move, Ding had very low time on the clock and eventually lost on time.

After three rounds, both Gukesh and Ding are tied on 1.5-1.5.

There will be a total of 14 rounds in this World Championship with the first to reach 7.5 points to be crowned the World Champion.

AS IT HAPPENED | GUKESH VS DING WORLD CHESS-CHAMPIONSHIP GAME 3 HIGHLIGHTS

Gukesh started with 1.d4 before Ding replied by advancing his knight to f6. By the ninth move, Gukesh already gained a significant time advantage over his Chinese counterpart.

Gukesh kept the momentum on his side as Ding lost on time by the 37th move.

Ding beat Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia in 2022 to hold the title of World Champion.