The chess world is currently looking excitedly to Singapore, where world champion Ding Liren and challenger Dommaraju Gukesh will fight for the world championship from November 25th. In advance, there is hardly anyone who is betting on a victory for the reigning title holder. Some people even want the Chinese to defeat.
One thing can be said even before the start of the 2024 World Chess Championship: title holder Ding Liren was not the ambassador that the world association FIDE, the major online chess platforms and the other prominent players in the scene had wanted.
The 32-year-old couldn’t or didn’t want to take on this role. He disappeared from the scene for months after his victory in April 2023. Then he reemerged as a player whose game no longer had anything world-class. Ding only won a few games and lost many that he should never have lost. The Chinese not only gave the impression that he had lost the fun of chess, he even admitted it publicly.
At least there is light at the end of the tunnel: the burden of the World Cup title should be lifted in just a few days. In the duel against the Indian prodigy Dommaraju Gukesh, the title holder is the clear outsider. Rarely in the recent past has there been a clearer distribution of roles before a World Cup game (from November 25th in the sport.de live ticker). Hardly anyone in the scene believes Ding can win.
Magnus Carlsen only sees one chance for Ding
“I don’t see that it will be a close match. I think that all signs point to a clear and dominant Gukesh victory,” said US grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura in an interview with “ChessBase India” a few weeks ago. Magnus Carlsen also sees the Indian ahead. In the Norwegian’s eyes, the 18-year-old’s lack of experience is the only point in Ding’s favor.
“If Gukesh strikes first, he will win the match without any difficulty. The longer it goes without a decisive game, the better it is for Ding because he has the skills. He just lacks the confidence. Anything that can bring that back to him will do “It’s more likely that he can win the match,” the Norwegian explained that Ding has to somehow survive, especially in the first few games.
However, the American Wesley So does not believe that Ding will achieve this. He also expects the world champion to suffer a significant defeat. “I’ve spoken to many grandmasters. They all don’t believe that there will be 14 games in the match. In the end, the one with the higher rating will win.”
The player with the higher rating is Gukesh. He is currently fifth in the world rankings with an Elo rating of 2,783 points, while Ding is only ranked 23rd with 2,728 points.
Kasparov: The World Chess Championship is no longer a World Cup
A look at the world rankings reveals another problem with the upcoming World Cup duel. Although the winner can then call himself world champion, the best player in the world is and remains Magnus Carlsen. That was and is not up for discussion. This raises the question of the value of the World Cup title.
“My honest opinion: For me it’s not a World Cup. For me it was always a game between the two best players in the world. The history of World Cup matches began in 1886 with Steinitz against Zukertort and ended with Magnus Carlsen,” said legend Garry Kasparov , who still describes today’s World Cup as an “important event”, but still calls for change for the future and asks a fundamental question.
The game of chess has developed so rapidly that it is a mistake to rely on an “antiquated qualification system in which it takes 18 months or longer to find a challenger. That is no longer appropriate,” he explained former world champions and for many to this day the best players of all time – alongside Magnus Carlsen.
As far as the duel between Ding and Gukesh is concerned, Kasparov also has a clear favorite. “The way Ding last played, he’s just a shadow of the old Ding. Only if he can miraculously recover will it be an interesting fight. But whatever: It’s a match that goes with the original idea The World Cup has nothing to do with finding the best player on the planet.”
Will the chess world get the “better” world champion?
What is beyond question for pretty much everyone affected: Gukesh would be the significantly “better” world champion for the sport. Especially because Ding was the worst possible.
“I would probably be more than disappointed if he (Gukesh) doesn’t win because, looking at chess history, I don’t see any advantage if Ding wins. Chess in India, on the other hand, is a hot topic. If Gukesh wins, “It’s only going to get bigger,” said Nakamura, referring to a new chess boom that could inspire the entire sport and that thing couldn’t – or wouldn’t – trigger.
Source: www.sport.de
