It was such a wrong move that even Gukesh covered his lips with his hands. Then he stared open-mouthed at the chessboard, perhaps wondering if his eyes were trying to deceive him. Was it a mirage? He briefly covered his eyes with his palms, the universal sign of disbelief.
The Indian leaned back to look closer, trying to find out if there was a trap somewhere. World championship matches are not won (or lost) so easily! The decisive matches for the championship are definitely not decided by mistakes in one move.
When it began to become apparent that his opponent Ding Liren had indeed made a mistake on the chessboard, Gukesh suddenly seemed very aware of his breath. He had time, one hour and six minutes on his watch, compared to his opponent’s nine minutes and 43 seconds. The Indian teenager looked away and took a sip of water. All over the chessboard, the world champion had just been impressed by what he had done. One mistake in one move to surrender the game, the match and the crown.
‘I was totally in shock when I realised I had made a mistake. His facial expression told me he was very happy and excited. It was then that I realised I had made a mistake. It took me a while to realise it,’ Ding told the subsequent press conference. ‘It was not such a dead draw as it was yesterday. He had a bishop on the board. He also had a rook, so it was more complicated. I could have done better, but considering my lucky escape in yesterday’s game, it’s fair that I lost in the end. I have no regrets.
Ding’s predecessor, Magnus Carlsen, had abdicated the throne without a single pawn being moved. In contrast, the Chinese champion fought tooth and nail to stay in the fray for 14 games. And just when it seemed he had forced the issue in the tie-breaks where he should have had an advantage, he blew it with a reckless move: 55.Tf2.
Here is what that reckless rook withdrawal had done: by moving his rook from f4 to f2, Ding had offered it to Gukesh for an exchange. Gukesh’s rook, placed on b2, would have come forward and captured it. Then Ding would have retaken the piece with his king. No damage done there.
But here it would have become dangerous for Ding. His remaining bishop, the only piece that could do anything significant on the board, was standing alone in the corner on a8. After the rooks had left the board, Gukesh would simply have to place his bishop on a diagonal where Ding would have no choice but to exchange bishops as well, because he was in a corner where the only way was through Gukesh’s bishop.
Once the bishops had followed the rooks off the board, Ding would end up with only a pawn and the king. Gukesh, meanwhile, had two pawns and the king, which would escort the pawns to the back line, where they would be promoted to queens. Checkmate was inevitable.
‘When he played rook to f2, I didn’t realise (that there was a win on the board). I almost played rook to b3. But when I realised it, it was probably the best moment of my life,’ smiled an excited Gukesh. Even in the past, the world chess championship was decided by a single mistake on the board.
In 1985, Garry Kasparov was battling Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest world champion in history when the duo was playing their last game. Also the year before, they had fought for over five months without anyone winning, before the match was finally called off. This time, there was a set number of matches. Kasparov was one point ahead against Karpov, who needed to win the final game with the white pieces.
Karpov attacked all-out in his first 20 moves before reaching a point where he needed to make a big decision: he had to choose whether to push a pawn forward on the kingside. He decided against it. Kasparov said later that his opponent’s move had given him the confidence to stop defending and go on the attack himself.
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