India defeated China in the seventh round of the ongoing Chess Olympiad after Gukesh took down Wei Yi on the top board in a battle that lasted almost six hours and raged on for 80 moves. Wei Yi was playing on the top board because China had prevented a Gukesh vs Ding Liren clash by resting the reigning world champion. Gukesh will take on the Chinese world champion Ding at the world chess championship in November-December this year.
Gukesh’s win over Wei Yi sealed India’s victory over China in the open section after the rest of the three boards — Yangyi Yu vs Praggnanandha, Arjun Erigaisi vs Bu Xiangzhi and Wang Yue vs GM Pentala Harikrishna — saw draws. This has been a tactic of the Chinese team at the Olympiad: they have mostly won their matches by a single win with the rest of the players opting for draws. Meanwhile, India’s tactics have been completely opposite: to steamroll oppositions by playing for victory on every board.
China’s decision to rest Ding Liren was understandable: Gukesh has been in imperious form at the Chess Olympiad, winning four games before drawing in the sixth round against Hungary’s Richard Rapport, the man who assisted Ding at the world championship where he became champion.
Ding Liren, meanwhile, has had a largely forgettable Chess Olympiad, losing his last game with white pieces against Vietnam’s Le Quang Liem. He has not managed to win a single game at the Chess Olympiad so far, drawing four before losing in the previous round.
INTERACTIVE: How Gukesh defeated GM Wei Yi at the Chess Olympiad
Ding Liren has himself admitted that Gukesh would be the favourite heading into the World Championship.
“I can see my opponent (Gukesh) playing extremely well in this tournament. Maybe, he is a favourite in the World Championship Match. He also has a higher rating than me,” Ding Liren told FIDE’s social media team. “I have dropped a lot since last year, but I will fight my best to try to overcome the rating difference.”
Ding Liren and D Gukesh in action at the Chess Olympiad. (Michal Walusza/Chess Olympiad)
While Ding Liren chose to sit out the clash against Gukesh, he did make the most of the rest day on Tuesday by playing football in the special exhibition game that was set up by the organisers of the Budapest Olympiad.
Chess legend Viswanathan Anand said he was not surprised by China’s tactics to rest Ding rather than throw him at the deep end with a battle against the confident Gukesh.
“Everybody suspected that it could happen. For me, it was not clear if he should duck this one or play. But only he knows how he feels. After losing with white against Liem, he must be slightly annoyed. Maybe he just took the day off. Again, Wei Yi is no slouch by any measure. They can easily field Wei Yi,” Anand said on the ChessBase India broadcast.
“If you look at momentum, stats and all, Gukesh is certainly playing much better. But think about it this way, Ding is still working hard. He’s getting through his bad form. I think Gukesh should be happy with how he’s playing. But he still has a match to play.”
