In the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Gukesh chose to allow the line 6.Qc2 g6 which is a key part of many opening repertoires for black these days given that there are fairly clear paths to equality after the regular 7.Bg5. Rather strangely last year there were a small number of high level games starting with a Kramnik rapid game using 7.h3 with the idea of 7...Bf5 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.g4. Given that the main line is regarded is very OK for black it's a surprise this move hasn't been tried more often. The resulting positions are probably not better for white necessarily but they're very sharp and taxing.
I think the course of the game clearly shows Ding knew what he was doing but the amount of time he consumed remembering the solution was a lot. After 10...Bc2 Ding's problem was his vulnerable bishop. His 13...Nbd7 cost him too much time but was correct. Gukesh took his first big think over 14.Nd2. No doubt he had options he was considering but getting into a proper frame of mind after playing a lot of theory is essential and something he did not do in game 1, this was very smart. Ding followed up with the only move 14...Rg8 and Gukesh chose 15.g5 which probably isn't the top engine choice but was a bullseye as far as difficulty.
I don't know what happened with Ding then, he seemed to be playing fine but he had the pretty straightforward 18...Bf5 19.e4 Be6 when if anyone's better it's him, there was also the better but more difficult 18...Be7 but instead he played the really complicated 18....Rh5? and after 19.e4! his bishop was trapped, Ding said he missed 23.Ne2 but this line was an overly intricate solution when he was already down on the clock.
The game finished on move 37 when Ding lost on time, but his position had expired long before that.
This result feels very big for the match, for me the concerns about Ding's form have definitely never gone away and I'm also not liking what I'm seeing in his ability to remember his preparation, although the prep itself actually seems fine.
Rest day 28th November.
Ding vs Gukesh Game 4 Friday 29th November.
Score Ding 1.5 Gukesh 1.5
