On move 26 of game 6 of the FIDE World Championship, it seemed like a familiar pattern of play was unfolding. Ding Liren was in a slightly better position. He chose not to push for the win and offered a draw by three-fold repetition. Surely, Dommaraju Gukesh was going to take it and have another peaceful, quiet game before heading into the rest day on Monday? No chance.
It came as a big surprise to everyone watching, especially if you consider Gukesh’s words after game 2 — when he said that a draw with black pieces in a world championship is a good result. Why, then, did he voluntarily walk into a path that was filled with obstacles?
“I thought I might be slightly worse, not even sure of that… I just thought I always had a counter play. I saw no reason to take the repetition. Obviously, I was not playing for a win. I just wanted to make a few more moves and see what happened,” he said in his post-match assessment.
If he wasn’t playing for the win, then was it wise to let the game go on in a position where he had to fight for survival? If the draw was Gukesh’s best case scenario after refusing repetition, then why didn’t he just take the draw when it was offered?
He prolonged the game by 20 moves, got himself out of a tricky position and into a completely even position, and then had no choice but to take the draw by repetition on move 46. Could it have perhaps been a psychological move to see how Ding reacted to the initial shock of the draw being refused?
Ding was shocked, make no mistake about it. In an interview with chess.com after the match, Ding said that he had nearly written Qe7 on his scoresheet on move 26, which would’ve meant the game ended there in a draw. But Gukesh rubbished any suggestions of this being a game beyond the chess board.
“It was more [about] just the position than psychological,” Gukesh said. “I thought there was a lot of play left. I didn’t really see too much danger for me. I thought I’d make a few moves and see what happens. So, I just wanted to play a longer game.”
Yes, long games are part of the experience of playing a world championship and an 18-year-old who has spent almost his whole life being enamoured by the sport would have obviously been enticed by the option of playing longer. But Gukesh only needs to look at Magnus Carlsen – whom he admires so much – for how to win a world championship.
Eliminating risk and not losing many games was the central principle around which Carlsen’s five world titles were built. Gukesh may have injected some excitement into what was quickly turning into a bit of an uneventful match by refusing the draw, but him not taking the easier option and eliminating any risk is a bit of a concern.
Gukesh has instinctively always been a player who likes to go for the win, but he only needs to remember what he did at the Candidates tournament, which is why he’s at this stage in the first place. Gukesh drew every game he played against Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura at that tournament, which ensured he was always fighting near the top spots on the table.
In this game, after Gukesh refused the draw, there was a period between moves 26 and 34 when Ding had a sequence of logical and easy moves to play which could have put Gukesh under real strife. In that time, Gukesh found some counterplay with his queen to thwart Ding’s attempts as best as he could, and then got a bit fortunate, when Ding misplayed a move with his king to bring the position back to being completely even.
Of course, Ding hasn’t taken the opportunities that have come his way so far in the 6 games, but that doesn’t mean Gukesh should ignore that he has given his opponent too many opportunities to get himself to winning positions.
As the match heads into its second rest day tied at 3-3, the Gukesh camp needs to come up with solutions. How does he create chances for himself without offering them to Ding, while eliminating as much risk as possible? Such a solution may not exist, but they closer they get to finding it, the happier Gukesh will be on the board in the back half of this match.
