World Chess Championship: Gukesh wins Game 11 after forcing Ding Liren to resign, edges ahead with 3 games left

What also made the win special was the way Gukesh achieved victory.

In a game where the world seemed to be moving in slow motion at times — particularly when Ding spent 38 minutes on his 4th move and 22 on his 5th, and Gukesh took an hour on Move 11 — the end came in a matter of two moves inside a minute.

INTERACTIVE: Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren

You can check out the move by move action from Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren and also play along in the interactive below.

With Gukesh’s pieces moving in for the kill and Ding running out of time to contemplate his best move, the Chinese grandmaster retreated his queen to c8 (28.Qc8). It proved to be a fatal mistake that could decide the fate of the world championship.

As soon as Ding pressed the clock after playing 28.Qc8, he knew the game was gone. He planted his palm on his face, aghast at what he had done. Just a few days ago, both players had been asked if they had been practising maintaining a poker face on the board when they spotted a blunder. Gukesh had said he’s not an expressive player in general. Ding had said he struggles to hide his emotions when playing.

At this stage, it wouldn’t have mattered. Even the usually-impassive Gukesh craned his neck closer to the board for a better look when he spotted what Ding had done: in retreating his queen to the back rank, he had left a knight vulnerable. It was the sort of blunder that one doesn’t need to read off the face of an opponent anyway.

In a flash, Gukesh played his move. He captured the knight with his queen, in essence daring Ding to take the queen. Ding would have to acquiesce. But in doing so, he would enter the endgame massively low on cavalry on the board. There are many ways to win a game at the world championship. Winning one by getting your opponent to resign after a queen sacrifice is perhaps the sweetest.

It was a game that saw both players using up massive amounts of time early on. Gukesh used up 70 minutes on his clock just to make 11 moves. Ding had spent over 60 on just his first five! And this in a game where both players get two hours for their first 40 moves with no increments.

“I don’t know what I was thinking at that point. I was calculating so many different lines. I knew this was slightly better, but I couldn’t figure out the exact way,” admitted Gukesh, who said he was kicking himself at some point in frustration. But after the 11th move, he spent some time in his lounge to compose himself.

The usual script

Most games of this world championship have followed a pattern: the Indian is the better prepared player in the opening phase, catching the world champion off guard and causing him to think long and hard for a way to defuse the situation. But Ding then manages to find his way out of trouble by the middle game as Gukesh tries to keep the attack going.

Ding used up his first hour on just five moves. Of these, he burned 38 minutes on his fourth move and 22 on his fifth.

As Ding later lamented: “40 minutes just went nowhere, to calculate some nonsense variations.”

Till the 4th move, the game followed the same sequence of moves that a 2021 game between B Adhiban and Ding had followed. But Ding admitted he could not recollect if he was playing accurate moves.

Thanks to a novelty cooked up by his team of seconds and suggested to him on Saturday night, Gukesh managed to make Ding blink early. He played 5.a3.

“I was aware of the game that he played with Adhiban.5.a3 was a new move. I don’t know if it’s a novelty. But last night, my team showed me and I really liked the idea,” Gukesh said once again heaping praise on his hidden team of seconds and trainer Gregorz Gajewski.

FOLLOW: Highlights of Gukesh’s win in Game 11

“At some point, it was a blitz game,” said Gukesh at the press conference. “I was happy when I saw him think for so long. I was happy to get that time advantage.”

Ding had already lost Game 3 due to time. Gukesh had just about made it past time control in one game with one second left on his clock. On Sunday, too, time trouble seemed a very real threat.

Ding had just over eight minutes to make 16 moves at one stage while Gukesh needed to make 15 moves in just under 15.

Ding will now need to do something he has been avoiding since he won Game 1: playing for a win.

But the crestfallen world champion found some hope from the 2023 world chess championship match he played against Ian Nepomniachtchi.

“Last time also, I made a comeback with white pieces in the 12th round. Tomorrow, I will definitely try,” said Ding.