How did Gukesh Dommaraju become the 18th world champion? It took him 14 grueling games to get a narrow win against GM Ding Liren. Let’s take a look back at the key moments that decided the game.

Game 1: Thing shocks the chess world

At the start of the match, almost all forecasters saw Gukesh as a strong favorite. But in the first game, Ding showed why he was the reigning world champion. With the black pieces he took the initiative in a sharp French defense and put Gukesh on the defensive.

The decisive moment came in the position below, where both players saw 31.Bc5! followed by an unsound sacrifice from the queen. After that, Gukesh gave up on the line and Ding won without too much of a fight. However, 31.Bc5 Qxg4 32.Rf3! would have given Gukesh a good chance to defend himself.

When Gukesh missed the best move, Ding was able to confidently take advantage and take the lead in the match!

Game 3: Gukesh wakes up

After a quiet second game, Gukesh came to the fight in the third game. Ding played well on the black side of a Queen’s Gambit that was rejected until a critical moment on move 18.

Suddenly it was a draw, and the players kept it going with a long, exciting series of draws.

Game 7: Thing Escapes

In the seventh game, Gukesh found a strong opening idea and reached a winning position, although it was always complicated. After a masterful defense, Ding fought his way to a difficult final. Gukesh thought he had secured a victory, but overlooked a detail that gave Ding a surprising reprieve.

Game 11: Gukesh takes the lead

After seven draws in a row, Gukesh finally made the breakthrough in a back-and-forth game 11. Ding was better from the opening but chose a slow plan that allowed Gukesh to find himself in a very comfortable position. Under Ding’s time pressure, Gukesh targeted the b7 pawn and Dings 28.Qc8?? allowed a tactical shot to win a piece and the game.

The crowd erupts as GUKESH WINS!!! 😍#DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/6r2fO0p4YX

— Rakesh Kulkarni (@itherocky) December 8, 2024

Game 12: Ding strikes back

Ding didn’t lag behind long in the match. In the very next game he dominated from the start. The crucial moment came early on when Gukesh underestimated a quality sacrifice from Ding. He avoided taking the material but gave up the center completely and Ding soon had complete control of the position.

Giri: “So far this game reminds me of Peak Ding when I played it, just engine stuff” https://t.co/eShguqxrOi

— chess24 (@chess24com) December 9, 2024

Game 13: A narrow escape

In one of the most exciting plays of the entire game, Gukesh unleashed two weeks of intense preparation against Ding’s French defense, gained a lead and had a game-changing moment.

The game was complicated throughout and Gukesh understandably couldn’t find the single move to turn the advantage from promising to decisive.

On move 31 he had to swap rooks before he could centralize his knight. Had he made the swap first, Black’s remaining defenders would have been put under too much strain, but when Ding found it 31…Rf8the worst was behind him. The reigning champions defended heroically and the players remained tied until the final classic game.

Game 14: A new chess king

In the words of Ernest Hemmingway, the final game of the World Cup game fell apart for Ding “gradually and then all at once.” He initially had a promising position and then initiated a series of finishes to draw the final.

He even sacrificed a pawn to reach a rook-bishop endgame, leaving only three black and two white pawns on the board. The game could still be held, but time was short and Ding was under enormous pressure and made a careless move and it was all over.

Here are the final moments of the game.

With the win, Gukesh won the World Championship with a score of 7.5-6.5. Congratulations to the youngest undisputed chess champion of all time!

What was your best moment at the 2024 World Cup? Let us know in the comments.