D. Gukesh holds a psychological advantage over reigning champion Ding Liren of China, having demonstrated better preparation and claimed his first victory following the first three games of the World Chess Championship.

With a maximum of 11 games remaining under Classical time control, the scores are tied at 1.5-1.5.

However, Gukesh has clearly shown better preparation, while Liren's calculation ability let him down in the third game, which he ultimately lost.

The match had started with Gukesh facing the Chinese in a French defense game and his initial progress gave him a huge time advantage.

Gukesh ultimately lost the opener playing badly in a complicated middle game but could take heart from the fact that his preparation had come good.

In the second game as his first white, Liren chose a solid variation in the Italian opening and Gukesh had no troubles whatsoever in equalising easily out of the opening itself. The game ended in a mere 23 moves vide repetition earning Gukesh a lot of respect for his flawless play leading to an easy draw with a slightly unfavourable colour.

Coming in to the third game ahead of the first rest day, Gukesh decided to put all his energy and his opening choice yet again made Liren spend more than half of the allotted time in the first 14 moves itself.

The Chinese later missed an easy equalising method on his 18th turn but it was largely caused by the initial pressure exerted by the Indian.

With the scores level, it is unlikely that Liren will pull out all the stops in the next game slated on Friday. Instead, a more cautious approach is expected, as the Chinese champion will hope his skills hold up in crucial moments, avoiding a repeat of the previous slip-ups.

Gukesh will be eager to ride the wave of his success as long and as far as possible. His first victory in the match must have provided a significant confidence boost for the Chennai-based player. If he continues to surprise, particularly with the white pieces, he stands to reap the rewards in the coming games.

In the last world championship match that he won, Liren was trailing thrice but came back to even the scores against Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia. In fact, the only time he went ahead was on the final day when the tiebreaker decided the fate of the 2023 championship.

Writing off Liren would surely not be on anyone’s mind given his fighting qualities but it remains to be seen how he handles things against someone who is 14-years younger and very hungry for success.

Overall, the match seems interestingly poised after Gukesh’s victory and the chess buffs could not have asked for more in the first three games.

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