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After signing a 28-move draw with white against D Gukesh, world champion Ding Liren confessed in the post-game interview with Cristian Chirila:
I wanted to surprise Gukesh in the opening and, in the meantime, save my preparation.
The line played by Ding from the white side of an Italian Opening granted him the initiative and a considerable advantage on the clock. Gukesh spent over 20 minutes before playing his 18th move, which was an inaccuracy.
Better than 18...d4 would have been 18...Kh8, preventing 19.Qh6, as played in the game. However, after 19...g6, Ding failed to find the most trying continuation - the Chinese GM played 20.Bd3, when 20.Re1, threatening to transfer the rook to the h-file, was stronger.
Gukesh further pushed his central pawns with 20...c4 21.Be4 d3
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Black's central pawns look truly disturbing for White, so Ding understandably chose to force a perpetual check with 22.Bxg6 fxg6 23.Rxg6+ hxg6 24.Qxg6+ Kh8 25.Qh6+, etcetera.
It was an interesting theoretical battle which served as a prelude to the match for the World Championship, set to start in November in Singapore.
Gukesh and Ding Liren will play the much anticipated 14-game match three months from now | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Ding v. Gukesh was one of four draws in the first round of the Sinquefield Cup. Wesley So and Anish Giri played an interesting 41-move battle in a Benoni structure, while Praggnanandhaa failed to find an accurate move which would have granted him a dangerous kingside attack against Nodirbek Abdusattorov out of a Sicilian Defence.
Once all the draws had been signed, though, Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja were still dealing with a tense position in their key encounter. Firouzja and Caruana are the frontrunners in the Grand Chess Tour overall standings.
Caruana played an interesting pawn sacrifice in the opening, but it was Firouzja who prevailed in the end. There was no lack of evaluation swings in the 85-move encounter.
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Fabiano Caruana resigns the game | Photo: Lennart Ootes
