World Chess Championship 2024 Game 11 Highlights: Gukesh defeats Ding Liren with white pieces

"Last time also (against Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023 world chess championship) I made a comeback with the white pieces in the 12th round. Tomorrow, I will definitely try," says Ding Liren.

This is the first time Ding is trailing in the 2024 World Chess Championship. He had taken the lead in game 1, but Gukesh had levelled by Game 3 and since then we have had seven draws. 

Last year, against Nepo he was behind thrice in the match, but each time had levelled back before beating the Russian in the tiebreaks. 

Ding says: "After 21.Na3, I started to feel the difficulty of the game."

Ding talking about Gukesh's critical moves: "He played the best move 11.g3. I attacked his d3 pawn and he defended well. These were the critical moments. When I played 15.g6?!, it was a horrible move. I missed a4 (Gukesh's next move 16.a4). If I had played e6, maybe the position would not be so bad! After 15.g6 my bishop was clearly out of play. I don't think I have any chance after that."

Ding Liren's thoughts on the game: "It was a difficult game for me. By move 4 I was already wondering if it was the right move. I remembered that once I played this against B Adhiban in a rapid tournament. I forgot what to do with the other moves. He then played 5. a3 which came as a surprise. 40 minutes went nowhere in calculating some nonsense variations." 

Ding Liren's body language speaks volumes at the moment. GM Maurice Ashley, who has been moderating all the press conferences so far, says that today the PC will also be conducted in a different order: with only Ding Liren fielding questions first. He'll leave the room then and then Gukesh will answer questions.  

Chess legend Susan Polgar tweets: 'The moment Ding realized that he blundered, and Gukesh about to jump out of his chair seeing the hanging knight, followed by the devastating resignation! This has always been one of my pet-peeves as a coach: PROPER TIME MANAGEMENT! My students heard about this point thousands of times!'

In a previous tweet, she had said: "All of a sudden, game over! Gukesh won as Ding hung a piece in time pressure! This is what I have been saying all match long, getting into severe time pressure is the formula for blunders and self destrution! This may be the game that could make history for Gukesh as the youngest world champion ever! Ding can no longer chill. He must go all out in the final 3 games if he wants to retain his title!"

Gukesh takes a 6-54 lead in the 2024 World Chess Championship after Ding Liren blundered away a piece while being under massive pressure on the clock.

And the world champion realised that he had erred right after he made the move, and it does not take long before the Chinese GM throws in the towel. 

Gueksh has a 50 percent chance of winning this, predicts Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast, as the Indian thinks about his 27th move. 

Over on Twitter, chess legend Susan Polgar posts: "Even though Ding is up a pawn, Gukesh has A LOT of compensation after Rb1, Rb5 the doubling up on the b file. White is in good shape and out of immediate danger."

So after about three minutes of thought, Ding Liren plays 21... Rd7. 

And Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast, crinkles its nose at the move. 

Before Ding Liren played 21... Rd7: 

Gukesh win: 33.9 percent 

Draw: 47.7 percent

Ding Liren win: 18.4 percent

After Ding Liren played 21... Rd7: 

Gukesh win: 43.8 percent 

Draw: 44.2 percent

Ding Liren win: 12 percent

"The position got extremely sharp quite quickly. This is the most important game up to date in this world championship. In a position which requires accuracy, both sides are low on time. It has changed from a classical game to rapid. Sudden blunders may occur," posts Susan Polgar in another tweet.

On Twitter, chess legend Susan Polgar posts about Ding's 15...g6: "I don't like Ding's last move. I would have preferred e6 over g6. The bishop is stronger on the a3-f8 diagonal, and on d6. Even though the position is technically even after 15...g6, it is a little harder to play with white."

Very interesting dynamic we have here. Gukesh has shut his eyes with his hands, which is not his usual style. Ding sneaks little peeks at the Indian challenger, which is very much his usual style so far at the 2024 World Chess Championship.

Gukesh is heading into a massive time scramble and we see the top of Gukesh's chair starting to shake. IS it because he's agressively tapping his foot under the table, or is the players himself shaking? No way to tell.

Leela Zero, the AI-based chess model whose predictions we're seeing on top of the official FIDE broadcast, has a sunny outlook about Gukesh's chances: 

As Gukesh contemplates Move no 16, here's are Leela Zero's predictions:

Gukesh win: 34.1 percent 

Draw: 42.9 percent

Ding Liren win: 23 percent

Gukesh now has 26 minutes to make 25 moves. Time trouble is going to creep up on both players, but in particular on the Indian teenager. Ding has almost 40 minutes. 

Maurice Ashley in the FIDE commentary says: 'Now we see both players feeling the tension! It's popcorn time! It's on! It's not going to be a three-move repitition draw from this position. Somebody's dropping something. At some stage one of hte players is going to be clearly winning. If you get a draw from here, it's because someone did not win when they had a big afdvantage.'

Here are all the moves on the board: 

1 Nf3 d5
2 c4 d4
3 b4 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 a3 Bg4
6 exd4 cxd4
7 h3 Bxf3
8 Qxf3 Qc7
9 d3 a5
10 b5 Nbd7
12 Bg2 Nfd7
11 g3 Nc5
13 O-O Ne5
14 Qf4 Rd8
15 Rd1 g6

GM Maurice Ashley, who has been moderating all the press conferences, speaks about the calm and composed Gukesh. 

'Yesterday, someone asked the players at the press conference if there was so much pressure on them right now that they're trying to avoid mistakes. Gukesh had a really wise answer that players make mistakes in every game. BTW, the kid's too wise for 18 years of age! Who speaks like that at 18 in front of the world?!' 

Later, he adds about Gukesh and Ding Liren's body languagae and general demeanour: 'I can sense that Ding Liren definitely feels the pressure. You can tell that by watching him play most of the time. He wears his emotion on his sleeve. He's very frank with his answers. But Gukesh! I got to check if Gukesh has a pulse! Seriouosly! That kid is always calm, nothing is ever wrong. I find his calm disturbing, frankly. But quite inspiring. You seem him meditating. I'd like to stress, he's only 18. We're looking at a phenom! The stuff he's learning on the board at this World Championship and he's going to take back!'

Earlier in the FIDE commentary, this is what Chinese legend and former women's world champion Hou Yifan had said about Ding: “I played many games against Ding when we were younger. He is a very creative player and can play all the structures. He doesn’t always play the most logical moves, but he often is more thoughtful.”  

Ding Liren and the rest of the world has spent one hour and 17 seconds for Gukesh to make his 11th move. and finally the Indian teen does and leaves the board. He's now almost on level with Ding on the clock! 

Gukesh plays 11.g3 and exits the playing hall. Ding responds immediately -- with a 11... Nc5 -- and Gukesh is back on the clock once more! 

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley, who is joined GM David Howell and IM Jovanka Houska in commentary today reacts: "You thought for an hour and 11.g3 landed on the board?! And this nondescript pawn move! 

It's that time of the match when things get glacially slow as we enter the middle game. Which means the official broadcast guys have to get really creative with what they want to show. 

Today, they have chosen a long shot of Gukesh tapping his feet under the table. 

When Gukesh is closing his eyes, is he nodding off? The FIDE camera guys have managed to focus on his feet while he has his eyes shut on the board. The official FIDE commentators GM David Howell and IM Jovanka Houska are talking about his routine, pointing out that when he starts meditating on the board, this is what he is doing with his feet. 

Former women's world champion Hou Yifan asked about Ding Liren's preference in faster formats.

'Yeah he doesn't mind it,' says Ding Liren's compatriot. 

Finally, we have 10 moves in the book from both players. Here's what the board looks like at this point: 

Here's what they are: 

1 Nf3 d5
2 c4 d4
3 b4 c5
4 e3 Nf6
5 a3 Bg4
6 exd4 cxd4
7 h3 Bxf3
8 Qxf3 Qc7
9 d3 a5
10 b5 Nbd7

Chess legend Susan Polgar's analysis of the position on the board after nine moves: "Ding seemed to be taken by surprise! He is down by more than an hour after only 9 moves! His position is fine though."

Ding Liren has often courted time trouble in the 2024 World Chess Championshipo with black pieces. In fact, he lost game 3 on time. He also dashed past his 40th move in a couple of games with secodns left on the clock.

Today, he's spent over an hour on just five moves. 

Chinese chess legend and former women's champion Hou Yifan says: "I would be worried, but we have seen this repeating with Ding many times (at the world championship). Yes, time is a factor. But position also matters. Maybe (in games like these) position on the board matters more."

Former women's world champion Hou Yifan is in the FIDE commentary booth for the live stream. She's speaking about the game. talking about Ding Liren's time management today, she says it's alarming, but, "Even under time pressure, he finds good moves, maybe the best moves."

She also points out: "When Gukesh has time advantage, we have seen he tries to push. But maybe he pushes a bit more (than needed)."

As Ding thinks about his 5th move and the clocks ticks into his second hour, Ian Nepomniachtchi, who lost the battle for the world champion's crown last year to Ding Liren, has a few snarky tweets on X.

So Gukesh has spent 32 seconds on his five moves. Ding Liren is now in his 60th minute mulling Move no 5 after Gukesh plays 5.a3.

After spending 38 minutes on Move no 4, Ding Liren has burnt 19 minutes --  and counting -- on Move 5. 

After burning 38 minutes on his fourth move, Ding plays 4...Nf6. Gukesh responds in SEVEN SECONDS.

The Indian teenager just keeping the tension on the board. Here's what the board looks like as Ding Liren is thinking again!

Ding Liren has now spent 30 minutes on his 4th move!!

And Gukesh gets tired of his opponent to make his move, so he cradles his head with his hands. He's not moving away into his private lounge. 

On the FIDE commentary, GM David Howell and IM Jovanka Houska are waiting for the move to happen as well. Howell ask if Gukesh has fallen asleep.

And just as he asks that, Gukesh's eyes open. Can he hear the commentators? 

The world champion has been thinking about his 4th move for over 20 minutes now. Ding once again looking like he will court time trouble, as he has done with black pieces.

He starts to speed up after the 20th move or so. 

Ding has already lost almost 25 minutes with just three moves made. Gukesh has spent 25 seconds on his four moves. 

Meanwhile, the FIDE YouTube broadcast shows the best noves for Ding Liren here. It shows how 4...Nf6 is the most common move played by back in the 336 games in the database that have seen this sequence of opening moves played.  But it only leads to a victory in just about 15 percent of games. 

But the possibility of a win is highest with the third most common move --- 4...f6 --- 21 percent or so.

AS you would expect, things heating up with Gukesh playing white. 

You would have thought that Ding Liren would have gone with Queen's Gambit Declined. But he's not backing down from a fight. 

Here's what the board looks like at the moment after 3.e3 as Ding thinks about his move. He has an option of two of Gukesh's pawns to snack on.

Gukesh opts for a Reti Opening. And here's how the game progressed: 1. Nf3 d5, 2. c4 d4, 3. b4 c5

This is something that Adhiban had tried against Ding Liren in 2021, but the Chinese GM had won the game.

This is already spicy! 

Ding Liren assumes his pre-game position next to the window with a chair. This is now part of his ritual. he always arrives first to the arena. But always lets his teenage opponent to enter the fishtank first. 

The 18-year-old challenger is here at the playing arena. His father Dr Rajini Kanth and trainer Gregorz Gajewski wave his good bye.

We're 10 mintues away from the start of game 11. 

And as expected, Ding is the first to arrive. He even joked about this at the press conference about how he was always the first to arrive on the board. 

And true to form, he's here. 

Ding Liren's seconds Richard Rapport and Ni Hua and his mother are behind him. 

We await Gukesh's arrival now. 

In a game in the classical portion, each player will have 120 minutes for the first 40 moves. On the 41st move, they get 30 additional minutes for the rest of the game. They also start getting 30 additional seconds on their clock starting from move 41.

The World Chess Championship is a 14-game match. The first player between Gukesh and Ding Liren to reach 7.5 points will be the winner. But in the case of both players being tied on points after 14 games, tiebreaks (matches in faster time control) will be played the next day to decide the winner.

Gukesh is attempting to be the 18th world champion in the sport. Since 1886, when the first World Chess Championship was played, there have been only 17 world champions. Gukesh could become the 18th. If the 18-year-old manages to get there by defeating world champion Ding Liren, he will be the youngest among those 18 players to become a world champion.

After game 2 of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw with Gukesh playing with black pieces, the Indian teenager was asked at the press conference if he preferred a particular colour.

“I see each game as a normal one, obviously white has a slight edge. But these days the difference is even less because of all the lines the computer comes up with. I don’t really have a preference,” he said.

Ding, meanwhile, at a different press conference had a different zinger: "Sometimes I play with the white pieces like black."

On Twitter, chess legend Judit Polgar had this to say after Game 10 ended in a draw.

"It was a quick game after the rest day that ended in a draw. Theoretically, the challenger Gukesh came out of this game better psychologically, but this is only theory, never forget the other side, in this case, Ding's intention," she said.

Polgar also pulled out quotes from both players to highlight their intentions in Game 10. 

"Today I also prepared a lot hoping for some advantage out of the opening, but he (Gukesh) surprised me with Bd6, and later with Nh5 which was also out of my calculation. Here I needed to think because there are many moves in this position, and I chose a harmless one" - said Ding.

"I am up for a game with both colors, but with black, to get a solid draw like this, it is obviously a good result. (...) The quality was high" - said #Gukesh.

The stake is high, the match is tied 5:5 - and 4 classic games left to decide.

On Twitter, chess legend Judit Polgar admits to being a fan of the press conferences. 

Polgar posts: "Some of my favorite sentences (quotes & questions) that describe honesty, personality, ethics, work ethics, soberness, a sense of humor, self-confidence, tension, pressure, human factors, and the love of chess - all that #DingGukesh is about. Enjoy and think about them!"

She then proceeds to list out her favourite quips from the world championship:  

"I kind of believe in Fischer’s quote, I believe in good moves." (Gukesh on if he believes in numerology)

"I have very good memories in the Queen’s Indian. I play White like Black, but a tempo up." (Ding)

"I am losing hair from my head watching these games." (Maurice Ashley, master of ceremonies)

"It is based on miscalculation." (Ding on a praised pawn sacrifice)

"I thought maybe I might even have some chances. But OK, it was just a misjudgment of the position." (Gukesh)

"Sometimes I play with the white pieces like black. But this time I pushed forward for advantage" (Ding)

"I just like playing chess" (Gukesh on refusing early draw)

"My opponent outplayed me – again – in the opening.” (Ding)

"Are you having fun?" (Maurice Ashley to both players)

"The draw can be broken at any point so that is too early to talk about tie-break" (Ding on who is the favorite of the tie-break.)

"I wouldn’t want to cheat at any point." (Gukesh on an imagined situation when he can check the engine during the game)

"Today I didn’t have any chance, so maybe I will use it for the future." (Ding in the same situation with a big smile on his face)

"(Was) Game 10 the calm before storm? The game ended in a draw, with two positions where the players took a bit longer to think. It was almost a perfect game according to Stockfish, with only 0.03 missed points each. The overall average across 10 games is 0.33 missed points per player," points out Mehmet Ismail, a Ph.D in Economics from Maastricht University who does data crunching for chess events. He was behind the Game Theory Corner at the Norway Chess event this year where he was looking at multiple factors to come up with the probability of each player winning the event after each successive round. 

Ian Nepomniachtchi, who played (and lost!) the last World Chess Championship against Ding Liren, has his say on Twitter after another draw.

A rather cryptic tweet from the two-time challenger that reads: "Another 99 CAPS game incoming." He adds a yawning emoji.

December 8, TODAY: Game 11

December 9, Monday: Game 12

December 10, Tuesday: Rest day 

December 11, Wednesday: Game 13 

December 12, Thursday: Game 14

December 13, Wednesday: Tie-breaks

Game 1: Ding Liren beats Gukesh with black pieces

Game 2: Draw

Game 3: Gukesh beats Ding Liren with white

Rest Day - November 28

Game 4: Draw

Game 5: Draw

Game 6: Draw

Rest Day - December 2 

Game 7: Draw

Game 8: Draw

Game 9: Draw

Rest Day - December 6

Game 10: Draw

Gukesh 5-5 Ding Liren after 10 games 

What the draw in game 10 means is that this is now a best-of-four games match. That means the cost of even a misjudged pawn push could be the difference between the world seeing the coronation of the 18th world champion, or Ding Liren continuing his reign for a few more years.

“Obviously the cost of one game now is higher than it was before. But my approach and goal are still the same: play a good game every time. If you think about it, it’s not that different. Even if the cost of losing the first game was not that high, I would not have wanted to lose that game,” shrugged Gukesh.

“There’s not too much room for mistakes. Now we have to be careful with every move. A loss will be a very bad situation,” admitted Ding.

There is a theory in the world of chess fast gaining ground that Ding Liren is happy with draws because he fancies his chances in the faster time controls. The tie-breaks will be played in the rapid format, while the current 14-game world championship is being played in classical format.  

“It seems that Ding has found his groove and made his intention known. If Gukesh wants to win this match, he has to take chances to break the deadlock. Ding is happy to chill his way into the rapid and blitz playoffs,” remarked chess legend Susan Polgar on X after the Game 10 ended in a draw.

We're at the home stretch of the World Chess Championship and there is no clear favourite at this point. 

Both players have two games with white pieces to edge ahead before he head to the tiebreaks. 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of game 11 of the World Chess Championship.