Chess-China’s holder Ding beats Indian Gukesh in world championship opening game

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(Reuters) – China’s Ding Liren beat teenager Gukesh Dommaraju of India in the opening round of the world chess championship in a major confidence boost for the title holder on Monday.

Ding, whose form has plummeted since he beat Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi to claim the crown in 2023, lost in the Chess Olympiad international team event in September and has taken unusually long breaks for a top player in a bid to improve.

“I had a lot of time to recover and to change and to prepare, to get to the tournament with a totally new appearance”, he told reporters in a post-game press conference.

Ding’s victory marked the first time in almost 15 years that the initial game of a world championship match ended with a decisive result as the high stakes of the event often encourage players to opt for cautious games usually ending up as draws.

The last decisive result in a world championship first round match was in 2010 when Veselin Topalov beat Viswanathan Anand.

The match between Ding and 18-year-old Gukesh, who qualified by winning the Candidates tournament in April, is a 14-round event in Singapore with a prize fund of $2.5 millions.

World number one Magnus Carlsen, who had been world champion since 2013, relinquished his title in 2022, citing a lack of motivation.