D Gukesh faces off against Ding Liren in game 12 of the 2024 World Chess Championship, but with the novelty of having an overall lead for the first time in the 14-game contest. After Gukesh displayed the maturity of a champion in beating Ding in game 11, he holds a crucial 6-5 lead going into the final three games.
Ding, playing with white in game 12, will have the chance to strike back immediately at Gukesh’s lead, but the risk of losing would mean his shot at defending his world champion title would effectively be over going into a rest day tomorrow. Gukesh meanwhile, has the championship in his hands – all he has to do is avoid defeat for the next three games – and he will be crowned the youngest world champion in chess history.
The defending champion, who has been happy to earn draws with white so far, will have to come prepared with an opening that can trouble Gukesh – a scenario that’s rarely been seen. However, Ding did recall a good omen from his world championship victory of Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2023, when he won game 12.
Whether Ding will change his opening strategy is something to look forward to, with Gukesh denying that his opponent had been conservative so far, saying “I don’t think my opponent was playing for draws – he had some better positions in the match. It’s a 14-game long match and you can’t plan from the start to take the match to the tie-breaks, because in chess mistakes always happen.”
Gukesh however, will be hoping to avoid defeat, which he last tasted in game 1. He noted the mental strength required to bounce back, saying “After Game 1, I had to show mental resistance because obviously it wasn’t a pleasant thing to lose the first game of the World Championship, but then once I hit back, I’ve started to play good chess.”
Despite the temptation to play conservatively, Gukesh reiterated he’d not change his style, saying “I will just try to play good games, obviously it’s not possible to not think about the result but the focus and the process is on playing good games and that is the only way to get the result you want.”
Game 12 of the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship in Singapore begins at 02:30 PM IST on December 09, 2024.
You can follow all the action in our live blog, below:
