🎉 Exciting news from the chess world! Ding Liren from the Chinese mainland has secured a stunning victory against India's Gukesh Dommaraju in the first game of the 2024 FIDE World Championship held in Singapore on Monday.
Gukesh kicked off the competition with a surprising move using his e-pawn, to which Ding responded with the classic French Defense. The Chinese Grandmaster didn't waste any time, creating impressive queenside counterplay and maintaining relentless focus at the board. Meanwhile, Gukesh took multiple breaks, and his aggressive kingside attacks began to falter as the game progressed.
The 18-year-old Indian prodigy found himself in a tough spot after misplaying a couple of crucial moves during the middle game. His calculation abilities seemed to let him down at the worst moment. Ding, on the other hand, showcased incredible accuracy, steadily gaining multiple positional advantages that left Gukesh with no way to recover.
After an intense four-hour battle, the first game concluded decisively for the first time since Vishy Anand of India faced Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in 2010. This marks Ding's first win in classical chess since January 27, when he triumphed over Grandmaster Max Warmerdam of the Netherlands at the Tata Steel Masters.
Reflecting on his victory, Ding said, \"This was his first World Championship, and he might have been nervous, so I played something unusual, which I hadn't played for a long time.\" Gukesh shared his thoughts in the post-match press conference, stating, \"Obviously it was not a great game by me. It all depended on the alertness. I think it was just a tactical oversight. It can happen.\"
Get ready for more excitement as Ding takes the white pieces in the second game on Tuesday! Stay tuned! ✨
