11.27.24 Game 3 of the FIDE World Chess Championship was a tightrope walk in which the Challenger, Dommaraju Gukesh, kept his balance and came out on top to level the Match at 1.5 points apiece.

Game 3 was a tale of the bishop on c2. After an Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit, the game followed Kramnik vs Erigaisi World Rapid Team Championship 2023. Gukesh demonstrated fantastic opening preparation. In the post-game press conference, Ding admitted that after 7.h3 he was already in a position in which he had no knowledge of the line. That lack of familiarity took its toll on the clock as Ding had a more than one-hour time deficit after finding 13...Nbd7. 

Ding stuck his bishop on c2 on move 10 and it remained there, entombed, until it was captured on White's 24th move. Ding had an opportunity to extricate the bishop but erred on 18...Rh5.

When Ding played 24...Nxd2, GM Judit Polgar stated, matter of factly, that Gukesh had to win this game as these types of chances don't come so often in World Championship Matches. That prediction came to fruition as Ding's clock clicked down to 1:50 with 9 moves to play and then to just a handful of seconds before his time ran out on move 37. 

The handshake after Game 3 that allowed Gukesh to draw even in the Match. 

(image courtesy FIDE/Eng Chin An)

Fun Fact: Gukesh was asked if he could choose any player, living or dead, to be his second whom whould he choose. He responded, "Fischer."

Tomorrow is a rest day. The Match continues on Friday, November 29th at 4:00 a.m. eastern (5:00 p.m. local time in Singapore).

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>> Replay Game 3 <<