^{Source: FIDE.com}

The Chess King is dead! Long live the Chess King!

If you didn’t know, FIDE World Championship 2024 match is the first in 138 years history of Title Matches, to feature two contestants from Asia. This one was decided in the last game of the match, by a bizarre blunder of a reigning Champion, Ding Liren…

Before we see the game, let’s first shortly introduce the contenders:

The Big Match was played for the title and a prize fund of US$2.5 million.

Match Format and Time Control:
The match consist of 14 classical games. Each game follow the time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move 41.

The player who scores 7.5 points or more wins the World Championship Match. If the score after fourteen games is equal, then tie-breaks will be played.

It was played with the FIDE Official Chess Set:
The iconic World Chess Championship set approved by FIDE for the elite events and exclusively used in the World Chess Championship matches and cycle events. Designed by Pentagram’s Daniel Weil for World Chess, the set is one of the most iconic chess designs in the world. Inspired by the Staunton, the set has been designed with the help of Vladimir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen.

Ding Liren vs. Dommaraju Gukesh

Round 14th, Singapore, December 12th, 2024
Opening "Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld"

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.d4 e6 5.O-O cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nge7 7.c4 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qd1 d4 10.e3 Bc5 11.exd4 Bxd4 12.Nc3 O-O 13.Nb5 Bb6 14.b3 a6 15.Nc3 Bd4 16.Bb2 e5 17.Qd2 Be6 18.Nd5 b5 19.cxb5 axb5 20.Nf4 exf4 21.Bxc6 Bxb2 22.Qxb2 Rb8 23.Rfd1 Qb6 24.Bf3 fxg3 25.hxg3 b4 26.a4 bxa3 27.Rxa3 g6 28.Qd4 Qb5 29.b4 Qxb4 30.Qxb4 Rxb4 31.Ra8 Rxa8 32.Bxa8 g5 33.Bd5 Bf5 34.Rc1 Kg7 35.Rc7 Bg6 36.Rc4 Rb1+ 37.Kg2 Re1 38.Rb4 h5 39.Ra4 Re5 40.Bf3 Kh6 41.Kg1 Re6 42.Rc4 g4 43.Bd5 Rd6 44.Bb7 Kg5 45.f3 f5 46.fxg4 hxg4 47.Rb4 Bf7 48.Kf2 Rd2+ 49.Kg1 Kf6 50.Rb6+ Kg5 51.Rb4 Be6 52.Ra4 Rb2 53.Ba8 Kf6 54.Rf4 Ke5

Up to this moment, everything looked like another quiet draw in preparation for the Rapid tie-break, which should decide a Champion in case of equal result. But then, suddenly…

55.Rf2??

55… Rxf2 56. Kxf2 Bd5 57. Bxd5 Kxd5 58. Ke3 Ke5 0-1

What happened to Ding? Did he break under pressure? Was he too tired to see the simple draw strategy? Was he too tired? Whatever, we have the youngest Champion ever!

Despite everything, I – as a prominent member of the Brutal Blundering Community – have to thank Ding Liren in the name of Community for a greatest possible consolation for us all.

Blundering may be a natural way of chess life, but… Thank God I am not the one blundering most money in a in a single game… 😁

Hivechess Tournaments

Day	Tournament	GMT	CET	Host(s)	Active
Thu	Blitz Blunder Barrons	20:00	21:00	@the-real-betman	❌
Fri	Hivechess Tournament	20:00	21:00	@stayoutoftherz	✔️
Sat	Chess Tournament	20:00	21:00	@schamangerbert	❌️
Sun	Chess Brothers League	19:00	20:00	@chessbrotherspro	❌

This post might be interesting for:

! [Mention List]
Potentially of interest to:
@aakrist @abimbola753 @acidtiger @agreste @aiuna @alucian @artsbreezy01 @ajumaa @alan8a @alberto0607 @alexmag1988 @almightymelon @alpha @ambarvegas @amirl @anadello @andzhi @anli @anomadsoul @apy @arsenal49 @artistparthoroy @astrolabio @awesomeintrigue @b0s @behiver @beyondhorizonmm @bitsignal @burnoutawesome @camiloferrua @cerati @chacald.dcymt @chessbrotherspro @chesthetica @clixmoney @cryptogee @cryptoniusraptor @cryptoph0823 @cryptopi314 @dhilan04 @darruiz @diegofitness92 @digitalis @ebingo @eliaschess333 @elprofe62 @emeka4 @emic @eniolw @eenriquerivas @engilhramn @evgsk @fcastro177 @fiona777 @fairy-of-comfort @fjcr @flaws @foxconnmars @franciscomarval @franu @gabotask @giacomone @gingerbyna @grafo07 @hannes-stoffel @heimindanger @herz-ass @hierro21 @hirohurl @hive-129589 @hivetrader @iamchessguy @iammanythings1 @ibizaki @iceblue @iobates @ironshield @jaki01 @jesusmgl1995 @jesustiano @jkms @johannesboldt @johannfrare @josesmoke @juanmi96 @justfavour @kaungsett8388 @kintokris @kreur @levitant @lighteye @lofone @lucianosky @maciejficek @maestroask @manuel6 @marcusantoniu26 @mario89 @masterswatch @maverieux000 @meedo @mister-omortson @memess @mrsarri @mstafford @mundocuriosidad @mypathtofire @nerdvana @nftland1989 @nikoszzz @oadissin @officialrosh1 @olujay @omonomo @orlanzavala @oshiokhenhoya @pamboy27 @parung76 @perpz @petreius @philipp87 @pokerarema @pokermaria @pravesh0 @primersion @ptmaker @rafaelaquino @rafzat @razzor @renerondon @rexplanet @rheda @rodrook @ropavejero @rosmarly @salomijale @samostically @sanjamkapoors @sawko @schamangerbert @schnitte @soluce07 @solymi @spacetoon @stayoutoftherz @steamloled @steemychicken1 @stranger27 @svarogbg @syndmitrij @the01crow @thedoc07 @therealflaws @timix648 @timofey @tin.aung.soe @tony1294 @tungphong @uliseshb @vaipraonde @vasigo @victorbch2 @vjap55 @volkiceper @walner @wegflexor @wildthougts @xoflox @yazp @zacherybinx @ziabutt3836