+2-2=8 after the 12th game • That's where this blog will pick up for the next post with two regulation games to be played.
The last reports filed by 'IM Michael Rahal (Singapore)' were:-
- 2024-12-11: Ding dodges a bullet (worldchampionship.fide.com; g.13)
- 2024-12-12: India crowns the 18th World Champion, Gukesh D (ditto; g.14)
- 2024-12-13: Gukesh D crowned 18th FIDE World Champion (ditto; closing ceremony)
The title of that game 14 report could easily have been more sensational. The game's turning point will go down in the annals of chess as one of those moves that changed the course of chess history. From the game report:-
On move twenty-nine, Ding decided to sacrifice a Pawn, to ensure the exchange of Queens and Rooks. Although White was a Pawn down, the game was clearly heading towards a draw. Ding was holding his ground, but just when most of the analysts and journalists in the media center were already preparing their reports with the draw and tie-breaks, disaster struck for the champion.
In an effort to force a quick draw, he offered an exchange of Rooks at an inappropriate moment. "I was totally in shock when I realized I made a blunder,” Ding explained in the postgame press conference.
The Rook exchange was immediately followed by a forced exchange of the last remaining pieces, a Bishop for each player. Now the extra Pawn was just enough for Gukesh to force a win. The report on the closing ceremony started,
After almost a month of fierce competition, against an opponent who never gave in, 18-year-old Grandmaster from Chennai Gukesh D. raised the winner’s trophy this evening, in the magnificent ballrooms of the Equarius Hotel Sentosa.
There were a half-dozen photos I could have used to illustrate this post, but I liked this one best.
Game 14 - The New World Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju
'FIDE World Championship Singapore 2024'
Photo: FIDE / Eng Chin An
I hope to have at least one more post with photos from the official albums on Flickr. Although the match was disparaged by some powerful critics -- most notably ex-World Champions Kasparov and Carlsen -- I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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