It will not go the distance, Gukesh is 100% favourite, say GMs Thipsay, Kunte on World Chess Championship Match

Mumbai, Nov 12 Grandmaster duo Pravin Thipsay and Abhijit Kunte have seen many World Championship clashes during their long association with chess and both of them agree on one point -- that the upcoming title-deciding match between Gukesh Dommaraju of India and Ding Liren of China will not go the distance.

But they differ on the number of rounds or games it will last. Thipsay, the third Indian to become a Grandmaster, feels the World Championship Match between Gukesh and Ding, which will be played from November 25 to December 13 in Singapore, will be decided in less than 12 games while Kunte says the 14-game clash will be over in round 12.

But both the Grandmasters are sure of one thing -- Gukesh starts as an overwhelming favourite as he enjoys a huge advantage over his Chinese opponent in terms of ranking, rating and is also going through tremendous form having helped India win the gold medal in the Chess Olympiad. Ding had a poor time at the Olympiad in Budapest and finished with a negative score. Gukesh, on the other hand, finished with 9.5 points out of a possible 10.

The chess world is abuzz over the upcoming World Championship Match between Gukesh and Ding Liren to be played in Singapore from November 25 to December 13.

The main reason why both Thipsay and Kunte feel Gukesh is the favourite to win the title is because of the poor form the Chinese reigning World Champion has displayed ever since he won the title in 2023.

Kunte says the Ding Liren of today is like a second version of his former self and is not the same player that fought back from deficit a couple of times to take Ian Nepomniachtchi to the tie-breaker and defeat him to win the FIDE World Championship Match in 2023.

"Ding today is like the second era of Ding Liren before COVID. Ding 1.0 was very strong while Ding 2.0 is not so. He finished with a minus score in the Chess Olympiad in Budapest. He also avoided playing against Gukesh in Olympiad which was a big surprise," Kunte said at a symposium on the upcoming World Championship Match organised by the Sports Journalist Association of Mumbai (SJAM).

Thipsay says many people in the chess circle feel that the 32-year-old Chinese star was lucky to win the title as he had not qualified for the Candidates tournament but made it at the last minute. "In the Candidates too, he finished second behind Nepo and was not supposed to play the World Championship Match. But then Magnus Carlsen withdrew and he got his chance. He did well to come back after losing the second, fourth, and seventh games to take the match into tiebreakers and then win it. However, he did not play for a long time after winning the title, and when he did that, he finished last and second-last," said Thipsay, adding that Ding was not much convincing at the Olympiad too.

Ding himself has said that he has battled physical and mental health issues after winning the title and has positioned himself as an underdog in the upcoming World Chess Championship Match in Singapore.

Analysing Gukesh's strengths, Thipsay said though he is only 18 years old, the World No. 5 has a higher game maturity.

"He does not go into a match with prepared theoretical lines but instead likes to things as they come on the board. You will not see him blitzing the 15-16 moves from the prepared lines. I remember his game against Pragg (compatriot R. Praggnanandhaa) in the Candidates, who blitzed the first 10-12 moves in a few minutes while Gukesh took 30 minutes more than him. But Pragg made a mistake soon after. You don't see Gukesh making many mistakes. He is very calm and mature and plays with positive intent'" said Thipsay.