Good afternoon from a hot, humid Sentosa. The chessboard is set for Game 13 of what has been a remarkable World championship. On day one, we had Ding Liren scoring a win with black pieces against just about everybody’s – including Ding’s – favourite, D. Gukesh. After the drawn second game, the 18-year-old Indian bounced back winning the third game.
Then a long series of draws ensued; there were seven of them. Then in Game 11, Gukesh won, but the very next day, Ding made the scores even. So it is 6-6, going into the last two games. A player needs to score 7.5 points to be the champion. If it is 7-7 after 14 classical games, we will have the tie-breaks.
For now, though, we will focus on Game 13, in which Gukesh will have white pieces. It should be interesting to find out what opening he goes for in such a crucial game, and how Ding will respond.
We will find out in about half an hour.
– P.K. Ajith Kumar
