Defending champion Ding Liren of China on Monday ended a long winless run to beat teenage challenger Gukesh Dommaraju of India in the opening game of their International Chess Federation World Chess Championship match.
Ding, 32, had not won a classical chess match since January and he appeared to be on the defensive early on against his opponent, who played with the white pieces, and took up a great deal of his time allotment to contemplate each move.
However, he turned things around with a bold attack by his queen, and put 18-year-old Gukesh on the back foot and also left him facing time pressure.
Photo: AFP
Ding managed to press home his advantage in masterful fashion and although Gukesh was able to extend the contest, he eventually conceded the game after 42 moves in more than four hours of play.
“For sure I was nervous... It would be surprising if I said I wasn’t nervous, I was surely nervous,” Gukesh told reporters after the match. “But after the game started, I calmed down... I think I was playing some good chess ... and then I kind of flipped.”
Ding, who took a nine-month break from chess last year due to personal difficulties and depression, said he had ample time to prepare for the match since his last classical game two months ago.
The result ended a run of 28 classical games without a win for Ding, who had been winless since beating Dutchman Max Warmerdam in January.
As of press time last night, Ding and Gukesh were playing Game Two.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TSG (Taiwan Steel Group) Tainan won the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) title for a fifth straight season on Sunday, while the Kaohsiung Attackers a week earlier emerged as champions for the first time in the women’s league. In the final round of the TFPL, TSG rested most of their important players for the home match at Yonghua Stadium in Tainan. They had 46 points prior to the game and were already guaranteed to finish in first place. Their opponent, Hang Yuan FC, were led by midfielder Chen Po-ying, who scored two goals, first with a curving shot just inside
RSS