Mental state of both players

One can only speculate here. The 18-year-old wasn’t overly thrilled on Sunday. Similarly, he wasn’t pessimistic on Monday. Likewise, his opponent. At several points in this match, Liren has been happy to take the draw because he didn’t know he had an edge in the positions. Would he repeat that in the next two games? Chances are he will play proactively only if he knows he enjoys a significant advantage. However, this is a happier, fresher Ding. Gukesh may only be a teen but he has shown that losses doesn’t necessarily affect him. At the Candidates earlier this year, he suffered a potentially tournament-ending loss to Fabiano Caruana. He dusted himself and went on to win the tournament. On speed dial, he also has Paddy Upton, a South African who has experience working with Indian stars after a setback.

Fireworks or boring chess

Gukesh will push, especially with White on Wednesday. He will come in with a clear game plan of creating an imbalance for Black. He will, however, want to simplify the game for White because if he loses on Wednesday with White, there’s no clear path to a win for him with Black on Thursday. Liren will likely aim to play the shortest World Championship game in history when they come back after the rest day.

Tie-breaks

In one of the press conferences, Gukesh dismissed the notion of Liren being a favourite in the shorter time controls but it’s hard to dispel it. It’s a bit like going from Tests to ODIs/T20s and Liren does have an edge, at least according to the ratings. He also has the advantage of having experienced a tie-break in the final (he beat Ian Nepomniachtchi via this route in 2023). Because Gukesh is a calculator, he’s much better when there’s time on the clock. Liren is also a calculator but can blitz when it’s time to beat the clock. The one caveat to this? Gukesh doesn’t play a lot of Rapid and Blitz so his ratings may not be reflective of his true rankings.

Gukesh will play with White on Wednesday at 5.00 PM Singapore (2.30 PM IST)