Ding Liren defeats Gukesh Dommaraju in World Chess Championship opener

Defending champion Ding Liren of China defeated Gukesh Dommaraju of India with the black pieces in the first game of their 2024 International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation (FIDE) World Championship match in Singapore on Monday.

Gukesh opened the competition with a slight surprise through his e-pawn and Ding replied with a French Defense. The Chinese Grandmaster began to create real queenside counterplay, after spending 100 percent of his time at the board. Gukesh took multiple breaks, by contrast, and his aggressive kingside attack started to cost him as the game continued.

The 18-year-old Indian misplayed a couple of important moves in the middle game, after his calculation abilities let him down. At the same time, Ding tilted the scales in his favor move by move. His incredible accuracy helped him earn multiple positional advantages, before ensuring that Gukesh had no way back at all.

After four hours, the first game of a title match ended in a truly decisive manner for the first time since Vishy Anand of India played Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in 2010. The 32-year-old Ding's first win in classical chess since January 27, when he defeated Grandmaster Max Warmerdam of the Netherlands at the Tata Steel Masters.

"This was his first World Championship, and he might have been nervous, so I played something unusual, which I hadn't played for a long time," Ding said after the victory.

"Obviously it was not a great game by me. It all depended on the alertness. I think it was just a tactical oversight. It can happen," Gukesh said at the post-match press conference.

Ding will play with the white pieces in the second game on Tuesday.