WCC Games 4-6: Three Draws Ramp Up the Tension

There was a time not very long ago that three consecutive draws in a world championship match was not newsworthy. But, after two decisive results in the first three rounds of the 2024 FIDE World Chess Championship match, it looked like we were headed toward a continuation of the one-sided massacre in 2021 and the back-and-forth bloodbath from 2023, where decisive games ran rampant.

Instead, reigning World Champion GM Ding Liren and challenger GM Gukesh Dommaraju are now mired in the second-longest stretch of classical draws in a championship match since the 19-game classical winless streak that lasted from the 11th round of the 2016 match through the fifth game of the 2021 match.

We dive into the three games below, with annotations from each round from Chess Life columnist IM John Watson.

After Friday's rest day, the players appeared settled after an uneven first portion of the match. They didn't even seem star-struck by the former champions depicted above. Of course, Xie is now President of the Chinese Chess Federation and Anand has worked with Gukesh throughout his rise, so these titans are also friendly, familiar faces by this point!

Ding opened each of his first two games with a surprise weapon, as neither his French (with the black pieces) nor his choice of 1. e4 would be easy to predict based off of his playing history. In his second game with the white pieces, his choice of the uncommon 1. Nf3 suggested that at least his choice of 1. e4 was indeed a one-off. 

But Gukesh managed to handle himself well, coming up with critical moves when he needed them. By only move 17, he had successfully simplified the position and did not have much to worry about. 

Watson's annotations on Friday's game are below:

Game 5 had the potential to be a turning point in the match, or at least a clarifying one. For one, Gukesh could hardly expect Ding to repeat his French experiment from round one if he returned to 1. e4, and he already had notched a win with 1. d4, and now he was due a third game as White. What would we see?

Sometimes, consistency is its own from of surprise. Gukesh returned to the king's pawn, which makes some sense considering that he had some trouble out of the opening in game three (despite going on to win), but Ding went back to...the French! 

Gukesh's choice of the Exchange Variation was dismissed by some as less ambitious than some of his other options, but, as he himself confirmed after the game, he simply thought the line he was playing was strong. Indeed, he pose Ding some problems out of the opening. But, after one "hallucination," Ding found himself with a promising position. 

At the time, many commentators treated Ding's position as if it were close to winning, with reporting following the game referring to Gukesh's blunder and Ding's missed opportunity. Was Ding's position really that good? Despite agreeing that Ding had an advantage, Watson was not convinced it was ever particularly close to winning. You can draw your own conclusions after reading the annotations below: 

Missed opportunity or no, Ding had managed to press Gukesh in a fresh position once again. While Gukesh's responses have been resilient so far, there could easily be some frustration after having to "grovel" a bit with the white pieces in a match where many considered the rising star to be a favorite. 

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Photo courtesy Maria Emelianova/FIDE

We've seen France twice, so it only made sense that, in game 6, Ding would return to the London. In his 2023 match against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding delivered a convincing victory with the London in the opening's first appearance in a world championship match. Astute readers will recall this was also in game 6 (as annotated by WGM Jennifer Yu for CLO). Could it be? 

At first blush, this game could look like something of a dud. The players were not in uncharted territory until Black's 17th move, and by move 20 all the minor pieces had been traded off. There were no major scares from the almighty Oracle, either, as the engine occasionally gave White a slight edge but nothing as major as "the blunder" from Saturday. 

Indeed, Ding even attempted to repeat moves shortly thereafter, essentially offering a draw before move 30. In playing 26. ... Qh4, Gukesh was aware he was taking a risk, but decided that he would always have counterplay. 

As the four-rook endgame dried out shortly after the time control, it would be easy to glance over the game, remember the timeless adage that all rook endgames are draws, and wish for more exciting chess after the next rest day. But, how much worse was Gukesh after declining the repetition? What was this counterplay?

Interestingly enough, Watson shows us a number of fantastic and complex variations illustrating both Black's counterplay and several opportunities where Ding appeared to have better winning chances than he ever did in game 5! It turns out that, at least for us mortals, the game of chess can be more complicated than the evaluation bar lets on!

With eight more classical games to go in the match, the overall accuracy of play has risen dramatically since the first few rounds. Whether both players will be able to keep this up will be the most pressing question as we near the halfway point after Monday's rest day. 

Away from the board, FIDE's official photography page has been a great way to experience the feel of the match for those of us who were unable to make the trip to Singapore (or stay awake for the live streams of the games). One joy has been catching sightings of Hungarian GM Richard Rapport — one of Ding's beloved seconds from the 2023 match — who has returned for "Team Ding" this year. 

A number of other strong grandmasters (and former world champions!) have been spotted as well. The below gallery includes evidence of two former world champions (Anand and Xie) engaged in simultaneous exhibitionsy, and at least one more (GM Alexandra Kosteniuk) has been spotted. Other big names include Israeli GM Boris Gelfand (who lost the 2012 match against Anand), and popular streamers and content creators such as WGM Nemo Zhou and IM Eric Rosen.

Game 7 begins at 3:00 a.m. CST on Tuesday, December 3. Stay tuned to Chess Life Online and follow @USChess on X for annotations from IM Robert Shlyakhtenko for the next three games.