The seven moments that decided the World Chess Championship

On By Littum

How did Gukesh Dommaraju become the 18th World Champion? It took 14 grueling matches for him to pull out a narrow victory against GM Ding Liren. Let’s look back at the key moments that decided the match.

The final handshake at the end of the match. Photo: Eng Chin An/FIDE.

Game 1: Ding Shocks The Chess World

Going into the match, almost every prognosticator had Gukesh as one heavy favorite. But in the very first game, Ding demonstrated why he was the reigning world champion. With the black pieces, he took the initiative for a sharp French defense and put Gukesh on the defensive.

The critical moment came in the position below, with both players watching 31.Bc5! followed by an indefensible queen sacrifice. After this, Gukesh gave up on the line and Ding won without too much of a fight. However, 31.Bc5 Qxg4 32.Rf3! would have given Gukesh a good chance to defend.

When Gukesh missed the best move, Ding was able to confidently convert the advantage and take the lead in the match!

Gukesh took his first setback in stride.

Game 3: Gukesh Wakes Up

After a calm second game, Gukesh came out struggling in game three. Ding played well on the black side of a Queen’s Gambit Declined until a critical moment in straight 18.

Suddenly the score was tied and the players kept it up with a long, tense streak of draws.

Game 7: Ding Escapes

In the seventh game, Gukesh found a strong opening idea and achieved a winning position, although it was always complicated. After a masterful defense, Ding fought his way to a difficult end game. Gukesh thought he had found a win, but missed a detail, giving Ding a surprise reprieve.

Game 11: Gukesh takes the lead

After seven consecutive draws, Gukesh finally broke through in a back-and-forth game at 11. Ding was better out of the opening, but chose a slow plan that allowed Gukesh to be in a very comfortable position. In Ding’s time pressure, Gukesh targeted the b7-pawn and Dings 28.Qc8?? allowed a tactical shot to win a piece and the game.

Game 12: Ding strikes back

Ding didn’t stay behind in the fight for long. In the very next match, he dominated right from the opening. The critical moment came early when Gukesh underestimated a switch offering from Ding. He avoided taking the material, but completely abandoned the middle, and Ding soon had complete control of the position.

Game 13: A Narrow Escape

In one of the most exciting matches of the entire match, Gukesh unleashed two weeks of intense preparation against Ding’s French defense, gained a lead and had a moment where it was possible to put the match away.

The game was complicated throughout and understandably Gukesh couldn’t find the single move to push the advantage from promising to decisive.

On move 31 he had to trade rooks before centralizing his knight. If he had made the switch first, Black’s remaining defenders would have been stretched too thin, but once Ding found 31…Rf8the worst was behind him. The reigning champion defended heroically and the players remained tied until the final classic game.

Game 14: A New King of Chess

In the words of Ernest Hemmingway, the final game of the World Cup match fell apart for Ding “gradually and then all at once.” He initially had a promising position and then initiated a series of trades to simplify to a playoff tie.

He even sacrificed a pawn to reach a rook and a bishop end, with only three black and two white pawns left on the board. The game could still be held, but low on time and under immense pressure, Ding made a careless move and it was all over.

Here are the final moments of the match.

With the victory, Gukesh won the world championship with a score of 7.5-6.5. Congratulations to the youngest ever undisputed chess champion!

What was your favorite moment from the 2024 World Cup? Tell us in the comments.