By David Llada

"The Calculator" Gukesh wins his first game!

‘Today, I just managed to outplay my opponent.' That was Gukesh's succinct summary of game three in the World Championship match in Singapore. With this sensational victory, the Indian star has leveled the score (1.5–1.5) just before the rest day.

This result means his first victory in a World Championship match and his first win against Ding Liren, an opponent who had eluded him until now. "It's always nice to win a game, also for the first against such a strong opponent. But it means even more that I got a win in the World Championship, and a very important one. I am happy with many things about this result," said Gukesh during the press conference.

Right from the outset, the game was an intense battle that kept spectators on the edge of their seats, as the outcome could have easily swung either way.

Gukesh began with a Queen's Gambit, opting for 2.Nf3 instead of the more common 2.c4. In his video recap, Hikaru Nakamura speculates that this choice might have been aimed at avoiding the Budapest Gambit, an opening in which Richard Rapport, Ding's primary coach, is considered an expert.

I agree, and it provides some insight into Gukesh's perception of his opponent: that Ding is unpredictable and bold enough to spring a wild gambit as early as game 3 of a World Championship!

The game reached its first critical moment around move 9:

With his last two moves, 8.h3 and 9.g4, Gukesh challenges the Bishop on f5, like asking, ‘Will you retreat, or will you venture behind the enemy lines?' The point is that in c2, the Bishop is always at risk of being trapped, which becomes the main plot for today's movie: The tactical theme around which the entire game will revolve.

To make things more interesting, Ding admitted during the press conference that he was already on his own at this point. He hadn't prepared beyond 8.h3 and was unfamiliar with the Kramnik-Erigaisi game from last year, which had reached this position. Ding's candor never ceases to amaze me—I've never seen a contender in a chess match so openly admit his vulnerabilities.

The World Champion began consuming significant amounts of time. Just like in the first game, he seemed to rely on the idea that if he could reach a favorable middlegame position, even at the expense of falling behind on the clock, he could still convert an advantage the little time he would have left.

He was walking on tight ropes but managed to create enough counter-threads to keep his c2 Bishop out of danger. It felt like he was inching closer to a successful mission: ‘Saving Bishop Ryan.'

But then disaster struck. With very little time on the clock, he made a single inaccuracy:

Here, Ding chose to attack the g5 pawn with Rh5 instead of Be7—a puzzling decision. Be7 would have developed a piece, whereas the rook was already well-placed on an open file, and the lift gained Black nothing.

This allowed White to finally push e4, sealing the Bishop's fate—it would never make it back home.

From this point on, Gukesh was ruthless. ‘He played like a machine,' Nakamura praised. Despite the position remaining unbalanced and complex, with plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong, ‘The Calculator' demonstrated remarkable precision, reminiscent of Karpov's style.

Adding even more drama, Ding was down to just four seconds on his clock to complete the last four moves before the time control. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it in time and lost on the clock in an already desperate position.

With the match now tied, both players have handed their opponent a loss. Gukesh has shown he can bounce back—now the question is, can Ding do the same?