The days of Bobby Fischer may be back with a vengeance, albeit not hailing from the seasoned tables of Times Square in New York City. On the contrary… An upstart from another country gets to challenge the current World Chess Champion for the crown. Who are we getting to see? None other than a trailblazer by the name of D. Gukesh — and he’s going to face off against the current champ, Liren Ding.
Everyone wants to ask how these two measure up against each other? Simple. I reference Fischer with great adoration here because Gukesh is indeed a young sensation. He hasn’t been moving pawns around nearly as long as Liren, but his style works up the annuls of chess history, reminiscent of what it’s like to be at Times Square, hustling. Nevertheless…. This is Liren Ding. We’re talking about it here…
First Off, a Look at the Current World Chess Champion — Liren Ding
There’s a reason he’s the highest-rated Chinese chess player in history. He also had the longest unbeaten streak in chess history until the great Magnus Carlsen surpassed it back in 2019. Yet perhaps the only downside to his history of accolades is that he never formally had the opportunity to face off against the man for the World Championship back in 2023- Carlsen simply declined to defend.
Instead, the match to decide a new champion was between Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi, both being the top two in the Candidates Tournament. Liren, of course, won a long, drawn-out, and gripping match of games — first tying 7-7 games, then going into a “sudden death” where he inched Ian out by two wins and a draw against one win and a draw.
And the draws are the key driving force for this World Chess Champion. To put it even simpler: the endurance!
You’ll notice the majority of his games are draws. This chess player will wear you down and calculate the next moves with precision, timing, and endgame finesse. Often, that’s the hallmark of a great chess champion. Tactics, unpredictability, gambits, aggression? That often comes secondary — at least for Liren.
D. Gukesh, However, Operates on the Opposite Spectrum
He’s the upstart. The newest trendsetter in the game. You can tell that by his history of climbing the rankings relatively quickly but with not nearly as much experience at the tournament level. Moreover, Gukesh doesn’t draw nearly as much as he wins, and that’s saying something!
The guy’s a tactician. You can bet your pawns and rooks that if he were in Times Square, he’d remind many of that one NYC kid who moved from Chicago one day and then took the whole chess world by storm, defeating the Russians with fervor and passion. For Gukesh, it’s an art form. But of fire and brimstone, breaking defenses, blitzing the board with pawn storms, sacrifices, and gambles that might not pay off 100% of the time.
But as you can see by his stats — it might as well be 100%!
So the Question Remains: Who Might Win This World Chess Championship, You Ask?
It’s a difficult question that can be answered with a little analysis. Upon looking at not only the play styles but also opening preferences, it’s clear gambits are common with both of them. That’s a bit shocking given the disparity between these playing styles -Gukesh is aggressive and tactical, and Liren is strategic with long-game potential.
Yet both will happily play gambits. Even Sicilian defenses. Gukesh himself loves English Openings and Ruy Lopez’s, sticking with the power of how white can be with a king’s pawn. But with black? Sicilian and Indian defenses are his flavor, fighting with pawns as Indians do with blitzes on the queen’s side and risking the king’s protection.
Surprisingly, Liren’s not much different from the World Chess Champion: he’s happy to play queen’s gambits and Catalan Attacks till kingdom come, but when you switch him to black, it’s roughly the same story: Liren’s no stranger to a King’s Indian defense and even a Sicilian Kan, but with a strong emphasis on the endgame. Yet get this: Liren also has achieved distinction in 2016 as the highest-rated Blitz player in the world.
Blitz typically isn’t known for calculating endgame play.
So It’s a Question of Headspace, Emotion, and Self-Control
You can imagine Gukesh probably wouldn’t want Liren to make it to the endgame. So his aggression and tactics will want to force the World Chess Champion to go down rabbit holes that are messy or difficult to navigate — where it’s nearly impossible to see a clear win. We think that’s where Gukesh thrives the most: in mid-games that are rife with volatile tactics and outlandish gameplay that can easily swing games one way or another.
In short, Gukesh wants to throw Liren off balance just enough. But not too much that Gukesh just might chew on his hand by accident.
Given Liren’s formidability with self-control, patience, and vision, it would be challenging for his opponent to move the needle that way. Yet Liren would still have to be quite vigilant. It would be a narrow victory, but…
We’re thinking… The world chess champion, Liren Ding, retains his title. By a hair (maybe a white rabbit, actually).
Some Insight into Your Friendly Neighborhood Total Apex Author
I am an accomplished freelance writer hailing out of the Mitten known as Michigan, contributing content for over ten years in various verticals, including sports and entertainment. I’ve been a Magic: The Gathering fan since I was a kid, including throwing my hands up for other activities like WWE pro wrestling, MMA, and even football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and of course, the game of chess. I am also an esteemed published author of several horror novels.
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