In an unexpected turn of events, Ding Liren defeated Gukesh D with the black pieces in the first game of the 2024 FIDE World Championship match in Singapore, according to FIDE official website.

Despite spending a lot of time at the beginning of the game, the Chinese Grandmaster found a way to nullify his opponent's opening initiative and take advantage of White's pawn weaknesses to break through with a decisive middlegame counterattack.

Ding Liren was accompanied by 9-year-old candidate master Ashwath Kaushik, the youngest player to defeat a GM in classical chess and the reigning World Rapid Cadets U8 Champion. Gukesh D was joined by 9-year-old Tanvi Trivedi, gold medallist in rapid and silver in standard and blitz at the 2023 Eastern Asian Championship, and Singapore's highest-rated U10 girl.

In the postgame press conference, Ding Liren acknowledged that he had been a bit lucky as he had missed two tactics that, fortunately for him, didn't work for his opponent. For his part, Gukesh confessed that he was quite nervous before the game, and although he was able to calm down, he understood that his opponent had played very well.

This is Ding's first win in classical chess since January 27, when he defeated GM Max Warmerdam in Tata Steel.

The second game of the match will take place on Tuesday, November 26, at 5 PM local time in Singapore, with Ding Liren playing White.