Ding Liren Draws First Blood, Beats Gukesh In World Championship Opener

Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh paid dearly for unwarranted complications in the middle game, allowing defending champion Ding Liren of China to clinch the opening game of the World Chess Championship on Monday. The 18-year-old Gukesh, who is the youngest ever challenger for the world championship crown, came up with an early surprise in the opening by pushing his king pawn forward. It's a move that symbolises attacking intentions and the Chinese chose the French defense to combat the situation.

The line chosen by Gukesh was similar to what the legendary Viswanathan Anand picked in his first world championship-winning contest against Alexei Shirov of Spain in 2001.

The choice of move had enough impact as Liren spent a lot of time in the opening that was probably not expected by any expert of the game.

By the 12th move, Gukesh had a half hour advantage on the clock but eight moves later, Liren had a couple of extra minutes to boast off on his clock, giving a clear indication that he had gotten out of his opening problems and had a decent middle game on hand.

The 32-year-old Chinese displayed peak form after that as Gukesh's middle game crumbled. The classical game lasted 42 moves.