There is a place called Little India here in Singapore. There are literally tons of Indian restaurants, temples, Indian jewelry stores, and even Ayurvedic pharmacies.
‘Little India’ formed on Sunday night at World Resort Sentosa. When D. Gukesh stepped out of the elevator and headed towards the stadium, a large newly arrived Indian contingent was there. There, world champion Ding Liren was waiting for him.
Fans excitedly shouted, “Gukesh, gukesh!” – despite the World Chess League, it’s still rare for chess to scream so loudly. For Gukesh, this will probably be the most important match of the World Chess Championship to date.
He had a white part. He needed to attack.
As It Happens | GUKESH VS DING Game 11 Highlights
He carried out the strike despite Din’s considerable assistance. Gukesh won the 11th match and advanced in this match for the first time.
He leads 6-5. The streak of consecutive draws (seven of them) was finally broken.
Gukesh now only needs 1.5 points from his last three games. So if he can draw those games, the world title will be his.
Ding needs to bounce back with a victory. But he doesn’t have much time. He was in a similar situation at last year’s World Championship against Ian Nepomniatchi, but won in the 12th game (he emphasized at the press conference, “And with white pieces”).
Game 11 had a very dynamic development. It started with Gukesh opting for the Leti opening and he looked perfectly prepared once again. There was also an hour lead on the clock. However, by the 11th move, which took an hour to complete, the situation had turned.
Ding was the first to grab a promising position, but the match was a back-and-forth affair as both players struggled under the pressure of time. When you’re under intense time pressure and don’t have time to make a single move, mistakes are bound to happen, even at the highest level.
Ding squandered his advantage by pushing his weak “G” pawn on move 15. But worse things followed.
Also Read | Gukesh admits Round 11 could have easily gone the other way
Gukesh orchestrated a powerful attack on the queen’s pawn, then Din failed twice with the same number of moves, the last time against the queen. This allowed Gukesh to offer the queen as a sacrifice.
Mr. Ding’s position was no longer salvageable. He resigned with immediate effect in Monday’s move.
When Gukesh came out after the match, there was another cry of “Gukesh, Gukesh” from Little India. It was a happy sound.
A little later, Gukesh said he didn’t care about that at all.
