The deciding endgame

Ding Liren vs Gukesh Dommaraju

World championship · 2024 · 0-1

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A masterpiece, move by move

The last game of the 2024 championship. A late exchange sequence leaves Ding in a lost king-and-pawn ending.

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30... Rxb4

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Into the endgame. The queens leave the board. Black keeps an extra pawn, but plenty of work remains with rooks and bishops still present.

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55. Rf2

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The turning point. This rook move permits ...Rxf2 followed by ...Bd5. Those exchanges remove White’s remaining pieces and change the nature of the defense completely.

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58... Ke5

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The opposition. Black’s king stands opposite White’s king on e3, with White to move. Black keeps the extra pawn and can use the king and f-pawn to make progress; the recorded game ends here.