World chess body reacts to claims Ding Liren ‘deliberately lost’ to D Gukesh

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has reacted to claims that China’s Ding Liren lost intentionally to India’s D Gukesh in the recently concluded 2024 World Chess Championship match in Singapore. Following Gukesh’s historic success, Ding was accused of deliberately losing the match by the head of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrei Filatov. Russian news agency TASS quoted Filatov asking the International Chess Federation (FIDE) to open an investigation and investigate the outcome. For those who don’t know him, Ding made a huge mistake in the deciding game 14, moving the Rook next to his king, which allowed Gukesh to become the youngest ever world chess champion. time.

“The result of the last match has caused confusion among chess professionals and fans. The actions of the Chinese chess player in the decisive segment are extremely suspicious and require a separate investigation by FIDE,” said Filatov to the TASS agency.

“Losing the position that Ding Liren was in is difficult, even for a top player. The Chinese chess player’s defeat in today’s game raises a lot of questions and seems deliberate,” he said. he added.

However, FIDE chief Arkady Dvorkovich refuted claims that Ding may have deliberately abandoned the game.

Dvorkovich insisted that sport is all about making mistakes and bouncing back from there.

“Sport is about mistakes, without mistakes there would be no goals in football. Every sportsman makes mistakes but that’s what excites us, if the opponent can find a way to use a mistake,” Dvorkovich said during the tournament’s closing ceremony. recently.

Meanwhile, Gukesh secured the required 7.5 points to his Chinese rival’s 6.5 after winning the 14th and final classic time control game of the match which seemed to be mostly heading for a draw. As the winner, he will walk away with a whopping $1.3 million (around Rs 11.03 crore) from the $2.5 million purse.