Chess Computer Corner

The FIDE World Chess Championship took place in Singapore Mon 25th Nov to Fri 13th Dec 2024. Defending champion was 32 year old Ding Liren who won the title against Ian Nepomniachtchi in April 2023. The Challenger was 18 year old Gukesh Dommaraju who won the right to play the match after winning the Candidates tournament earlier in the year. Much was made of the poor form of Ding Liren who had admitted to depression but he played better than anyone had any right to expect. Ding won the first game but the match was soon level again after Gukesh won game 3. There were then seven draws in a row before Gukesh won a fluctuating struggle in game 11 where Ding stood well before losing the advantage and eventually blundering the position away in time trouble. Ding then won probably the best game of the match when he completely outplayed Gukesh in game 12. Game 13 was drawn before the final decisive game 14. Ding had white in the final game, didn't get an advantage and in fact then chose to play into a very drawish but inferior endgame. Of course he should have held this endgame and the blunder he made that allowed Gukesh to win was really very simple but I think the whole way he tried to secure the draw was psychologically wrong and I wasn't impressed even as I expected the game to be drawn. Gukesh has had a tremendous year, clumninating in this win. He finishes the year rated at number 5 in the world, he will be able to afford the kind of team only a world champion can afford from now on, the capture of the number one spot in the rating list will no doubt be the next target. He is the youngest ever world champion at 18 and there's clear room for improvement, some of the weaker parts of his game were exposed a bit in this match, but even just playing this match probably improved Gukesh as a player. My feeling is that Ding won't be too disappointed. He did put up a very decent defence of his title, far better than most predicted. The way it finished was a bit odd but was more a product of the sustained pressure of the match than that single moment, also he did have some lucky escapes in other games. The title clearly didn't suit Ding and honestly we need a better champion for the game as a matter of urgency now. Ding said he's likely to follow the Carlsen model of less classical and more rapid and blitz, I think that's a bit of a pity but hopefully we'll see him back to his best.

Source: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnews/ev ... nship-2024