Viswanathan Anand: A psychological duel has taken centrestage at FIDE World Chess Championship

In the last few games, a very clear trend has emerged where D. Gukesh can be seen trying to provoke his opponent into a battle, ready to decline draws and take risks.

India’s D. Gukesh and Ding Liren of China during the sixth game of the World Chess Championship in Singapore. | Photo Credit: FIDE/Eng Chin An via PTI Photo

The World Championship in Singapore has suddenly taken on the flavour of a psychological duel instead of a pure chess match.

In the last few games, we have started to see a very clear trend where D. Gukesh is trying to provoke his opponent into a battle, is ready to decline draws and take risks. Ding Liren, on the other hand, seems to be pessimistic about his position, often going for the safest line on the first opportunity in the hope that Gukesh might overreach.

In Game 6, Ding chose the London System, which he had used to great effect in the last World title match against Ian Nepomniachtchi. Gukesh’s preparation was excellent until move 16. On the next move, he had a couple of easy ways to make a draw, but chose a slightly inaccurate one that allowed Ding to get the unbalanced position he was presumably seeking.

On the 23rd move, Ding thought for a while, then gave up on his winning attempts and essentially offered a draw by repetition. Even more surprisingly, given that the position slightly favoured Ding, Gukesh turned down the draw and kept playing. He defended accurately but seemed to be taking extra risks. They agreed to a draw a few moves later.

READ: World Chess Championship 2024, Game 6: Nothing separates Gukesh, Ding Liren in round six as game ends in three-fold repetition draw

In Game 5, Gukesh surprised Ding in the opening by playing a peaceful variation. This year, the line has been somewhat popular, though as people have discovered it contained some venom. Ding was excellently prepared and equalised very easily.

On the 23rd move, Gukesh made a serious mistake by not exchanging rooks. Ding went for perhaps the smallest of the three advantages. He could have put the knight on ‘a4’ or activated his rook first, which would have led to a significant advantage.

He made Gukesh’s moves easier to find and then, shockingly, took his bishop to the wrong square, captured a pawn, and then returned it. The audience was astonished by this. In a game where Gukesh would have had to defend precisely for a long time, he managed to draw within a few moves thanks to Ding’s inaccuracy.

Game 4 was a fairly uneventful draw. Ding’s opening preparation was not lacking in venom, but he did not follow up with the effort required for the precise play. So with a few natural moves, Gukesh solved all his problems.

It is nice to have the rest day at this point because both sides will need to rework their strategies, given that neither seems to be getting his desired positions. Gukesh still hasn’t found any chinks in Ding’s armour.

Meanwhile, the defending champion hasn’t been able to take the chances that have come his way in the last few games.