World Chess Championship 2024 round 2 report

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The second game of the FIDE World Championship between Ding Liren and Gukesh D ended in a solid draw. Both players decided to play it safe, steering clear of major complications and avoiding any risks. After a series of exchanges, a draw was agreed by threefold repetition on move 23. This result seems to satisfy both players. Replay: Gukesh – Ding Liren game 1, 0-1, Ding Liren vs Gukesh game 2, 1/2-1/2 / All Gukesh – Ding Liren games live Reports: Ding Liren strikes first, defeats Gukesh with black in game 1! / Ding Liren and Gukesh with silent round 2 game Parallel: Top Chess Engine Championship live

Today’s ceremonial first move featured two local celebrities. Ten-time Singapore champion and a living legend of Singapore chess, Mr. Tan Lian Ann, opened with the white pieces. Among many other achievements, Tan Lian Ann represented Singapore in four Olympiads, with three of them on board one.For the black pieces, the move was performed by Professor Lim Kok Ann, widely known as the founder of Singapore chess. A famous microbiologist, he was Singapore’s first National Chess Champion, and for close to five years, he was instrumental in fostering many Singaporean chess masters. Having passed away, he was represented by his daughter Stella Kon, a renowned Singaporean playwright, novelist, short-story writer, and poet. She and her siblings have also sponsored the latest GM tournament in Singapore.

Live: Ding Liren – Gukesh game 3 here

Ding Liren’s first move 1.e4 surprised resident match commentator GM David Howell. “I am a bit shocked by his opening choice. He rarely employs the king’s pawn openings until the last few months, when he has been experimenting a bit with it – he doesn’t seem like a natural e4 player to me, but here we are!”

Gukesh took a moment to reconsider his strategy when Ding Liren played 5.Nc3 – the Giuoco Pianissimo variation of the Italian Opening. The Chinese champion had never played this line before, always choosing more dynamic setups with 5.c3. His most recent example was earlier this year in the Sinquefield Cup against … Gukesh!

“My basic idea was to play carefully, and I was fine with a draw. I remembered that my second said that the opening was 0.2 according to the computer, so I may have missed some opportunities,” said Ding, initially content with his approach.

The theoretical novelty of today’s game was 9.a5, grabbing more space on the queenside. Funnily enough, another top Indian player, Praggnanandhaa R, was involved in the two elite games in this line: in those games, played in 2023, the chosen moves were 9.Bxe6 and 9.Bxc5

Gukesh was fine with this approach. “I just wanted to play a good game,” he said. “With Black, so early in a match, you don’t want to do anything stupid. Yesterday, I was feeling good; I was fresh and confident, just that I missed a few tactics, which can happen to anyone at any time.”

Gukesh was on top of his game. He pondered over the position between moves nine and thirteen for about twenty minutes, eventually finding a very logical sequence of exchanges. The resulting endgame looked totally equal.

Contrary to what happened in the first game, Gukesh was fully concentrated at the board while Ding Liren was the one to take a couple of brief disappearances to their personal resting rooms – the tables had turned.

In the commentary booth, former World Championship challenger GM Boris Gelfand was asked which side he would choose. “If I had to choose sides, I would choose White. It’s a slow game, and we can improve our pieces slowly. Black has difficulties in choosing what to do”.

Full transcript of the press conference

Maurice Ashley: First, I would say to the World Champion, how did you feel about today’s game? Ding Liren: Not so much happened in the game, but my feeling went up and down. At some point, I thought I misplayed the opening preparation and I might be slightly worse in the middle game. I am not sure if my assessment is correct or not, it might be incorrect, but I think my position was very positive when his knight was on d4. I realized I had analyzed this kind of position before, and the computer said white is slightly better. But I don’t know if I am wrong or maybe there was just nothing there. Maurice Ashley: And Gukesh, were you surprised by the way the opening went in terms of him choosing to play this kind of formation? Gukesh: I mean, it was not a huge surprise. It’s one of the topical lines recently, and yeah, I was just trying to recollect what I had seen. And I think I got a fairly comfortable position. I mean, it was always, White always has a very, very slight edge, but if Black is careful, which I was, I don’t think it’s serious. Maurice Ashley: Continuing by the result, are you satisfied with the result for today? Gukesh: Yeah, I mean, a draw with Black in the World Championship match is always nice. And it’s too early, and we still have a long match ahead. Maurice Ashley: Going into today, the strategy, did you want to push for a win, make it to a knockout blow early or play carefully? Ding Liren: My basic idea was to play carefully, and I am completely fine with the draw. And yes, I am happy with the final result. I may get something out of the opening because I remember after b3, we checked until b3, and my second said it’s 0.2 according to the computer. Already one zero and I only made the draw, so maybe I had some chances at some point. I don’t know. Press questions: Mike Klein (http://Chess.com): My question is for Grandmaster Gukesh. This is your first big match. What are you thinking of the atmosphere of playing in this cube, where you know on the other side hundreds of people are watching. You have no other games around you. That’s got to be different from any other atmosphere you have played under before. Could you talk about how that’s been so far after two rounds? Gukesh: Yeah, I think this is maybe the first time I am or maybe I have played another match. But it’s one of the rare occasions where the only game happening is mine. And I don’t have any other games to see, but okay, it doesn’t really matter. I mean, I have seen a lot of World Championship matches. The players play inside the cube, and now that I am actually playing and not watching, it’s quite exciting. Michael Rahal (FIDE): I have a couple of questions. I want to ask you Gukesh, in the commentary booth, Vishy has said that you winning this match would be huge for Indian chess. I was wondering how are you able to cope with this extra pressure of representing such a big nation? Gukesh: Yeah, I mean, there is obviously some pressure. For anyone playing in the World Championship, there is a lot of pressure. But I also see it as a privilege that I can represent so many people and my country. And yeah, it would be a nice achievement obviously if I win the match. Yeah, I am just focusing on one game at a time. Hopefully things go well. Archit Sehgal’s question from FIDE social media: How much of a difference does it make psychologically to have the white or black pieces for you both? Ding Liren: Before I start, it’s easier to prepare for black pieces because at some point, I only played one line from time to time and just rely on my preparation. But sometimes here, for example, in the first game, I played something new in opening and of course it requires a lot of memory and so. Also, today, I played not a common move e4 and also I prepared a lot. Maurice Ashley: So, was that white or black? Which one do you prefer? Ding Liren: From the preparation aspect, maybe (Smiles)… no. Gukesh: I think, I mean, I have played many games with both colours. And in the World Championship, it’s a bit different. You need some kind of approach. But I see it as a normal game with both colours. Obviously white always has the slight edge, but yeah, I think, nowadays the difference is also less because of all the lines that computer comes up with. So it’s like playing any normal game. I don’t really have a preference. Mike Klein (http://Chess.com): One more for Grandmaster Gukesh, after the loss yesterday, you talked at the opening press conference about how much Grandmaster Gajewski means to you, second only to your parents. Did you guys dwell on what you could have done better in game one, or did you guys get right into game two? And what did he say to you to help you mentally overcome what happened in round one? Gukesh: I mean, we all knew that things can happen; losing is just part of the game. So, it was not a shock; we were prepared. And yeah, we are just sticking to the plan. Obviously, he is not only helping me with chess, but also helping me get ready mentally and, you know, just to keep my well-being. And yeah, he said a few things which helped me recover quickly, and then we were on to today. So yeah, I mean, hopefully, today was a good day, and hopefully, we will have many more good days coming. Abhinav (US Chess): I have a question for both players. Ding, you took a fairly long amount of time to play Rook d to c1, and Gukesh, you took a fairly long time to respond. It felt like a counterintuitive move to put a rook behind the c2 pawn. Can you describe what both of your thought processes were with this move in particular? Ding Liren: Rc1 is a one idea in this kind of pawn structure. But in the game, I am not sure if it’s a good move. I don’t think it’s a good move actually. Because I don’t know how to develop when he has such a strong knight on d4. So I then moved back to d1. Maybe I am not happy with Rc1. Gukesh: Yeah, I think it’s just a common idea that you know, you try to keep more pieces on the board and you try to defend c2 to get Ne1, Nd3. But yeah, I think, I found a good formation. I mean, I was just trying to see how to stop Ne1, Nde and I think I found a good formation and after which, it was hard for white to really get his plan and make progress. Yeah, maybe Rc1 was not the best, but I don’t really see any other challenges as well. Maurice Ashley: There was an alternative that we were analysing in the back. Particularly with Anand, with the move Ke1 with this idea of Rxd1, Nxa5, Nd3. Did you look at this at all? Ding Liren: Nd5 Maurice Ashley: Yeah, Nd7 Nd5 c6 Ne7 Kh7 and Nb2, but just pressure. The engine thinks its still slightly better for white. It’s a crazy line to just give away the pawn. Ding Liren: Yeah. Still don’t understand Nf6 Maurice Ashley: Nf6 Ra1 and then just play slowly. It’s a long line but its Ding Liren: g6 Na4. Come no time to grab my knight. Maurice Ashley: But I mean, if you didn’t look, Gukesh, did you look at this at all? Gukesh: I kind of stopped after Kd7 I guess. I think it was not working. But yeah, this looks like an interesting. Reporter: Gukesh, do you feel like you now have some sort of foothold in the game after what happened yesterday? Do you think it was important for you to put points on the board, first of all? Gukesh: I mean, I did not really think about those kinds of things. I just wanted to play a good game. And with Black, I mean so early in the match, it’s nowhere close to a must-win. So, I was not going to do anything stupid. So, I just wanted to play a good game. And I mean, yesterday also, I was feeling good, you know, I was fresh and confident. It’s just that I missed a few tactics, which can happen to anyone at any time. I wouldn’t say today was about like, putting breaks or anything; I just tried to play a good game. Reporter: Just one small follow-up, if I may. You said you wanted to play well, so post-assessment: Do you think you actually did play as well as you wanted to? Gukesh: Yeah. I mean, I think I was, after I was surprised in the opening, I reacted pretty decently. I didn’t give him any serious chances, and it was a solid game with Black, which is nice. Fan question from FIDE social media: How do you unwind after a game and not let your past affect your future? Maurice Ashley: How do you settle down after a game and relax and not let the past affect the game, what happens next? Ding Liren: Well, first, I check the games. Maybe yesterday, I received a lot of messages because I won the first game. And then, after that, it’s already time to sleep because the game normally finishes very late. Gukesh: Yeah, I maybe discuss the game a bit, and then, yeah, I mean, it’s normal. I eat dinner, I sleep, and I think about the next game. Yeah, nothing huge, really. Maurice Ashley: What is your expectation for tomorrow, if you’ve thought about it at all? Ding Liren: I think it will be a big fight because he is a point down, and he has White pieces. So, I am ready for a fight. Maurice Ashley: You got white pieces tomorrow. What can we expect? Gukesh: I will just try to play a good game, because after all, the only thing you can do to try and win is to play good games.

Timeline of the World Chess Championship

Tomorrow is a rest day at the World Chess Championship 2024, Ding Liren and Gukesh will have time to reflect on the first three games.

World Chess Championship 2024 round 2 report

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