World Chess - Gukesh

Maybe even I could have won it from there and it was certainly worth ploughing on with a pawn advantage when the computer analysis was showing the draw at 99% but I would never have got myself into that position at 6.5-6.5 in a best of 14.

Ding was at a big time disadvantage but offering the exchange of rooks was clearly a brainstorm and that's precisely what Gukesh was playing on in the hope of. So, 18 years old and World Champion. There's not really much else for him to do already but he's not the best player in the world so maybe he can aim at being that.

The big drama clashed with the 12.55  from Warwick where another odds-on favourite got badly turned over.

 

I am, though, at an all-time high in three of the four disciplines at Lichess, having reached 1807 at Bullet and so it might be Classical for a long time now to try to put that at a personal best, too.