Gukesh loses as Ding pulls off a classic

After four hours and change in the humble, unglamorous everyday office chair, Ding Liren finally got up. He left the playing hall for a break.

- Swaroop Swaminathan

The person sitting on the opposite end of the table, D Gukesh, had his head buried inside his hands. It was the opening game's most symbolic moment.

Liren knew he had won the game but wanted his opponent to suffer for a few more minutes before the final act. Gukesh knew he had lost but couldn't officially resign because his opponent had left him hanging.

The 32-year-old wasn't just content twisting the knife. He wanted the knife to stay twisted before Gukesh tapped out.

The favourite coming into the 14-game match, Gukesh, may have lost but this is what the World Championship needed—a Liren win to set the ball rolling in Singapore.

The pre-tournament build-up was dominated by concerns around Liren's form, his battles with mental health and whether this would be a one-sided final. To be fair, there was some merit in that argument. The world champion hadn't won a Classical game since January. At the other end of the spectrum, the Indian teen was coming off a double gold performance at the Olympiad in Hungary a few months ago (at the Olympiad, Liren took a break the day he was supposed to play Gukesh when China faced India).