context: 1. g1f3  1... d7d5  2. g2g3  2... c7c5  3. f1g2  3... b8c6  4. d2d4 Another new opening in the match. 4... e7e6  5. e1g1  5... c5d4  6. f3d4  6... g8e7 A rare move. As usual, Gukesh demonstrates a new idea early in the game. This time, however, it will backfire—White will achieve a pleasant position. Black's idea is to exchange on d4 and get the knight to c6. The downside to this strategy is that Black's king can be a bit unsafe in some positions without the knight nearby, although this may seem far from reality at the moment. 7. c2c4 The best reaction, attacking the center. 7... c6d4  8. d1d4  8... e7c6 Black follows the planned strategy. Now White has several possible queen moves. 9. d4d1 A solid choice, but the alternatives are interesting. 9... d5d4  10. e2e3  10... f8c5 A new move. 11. e3d4  11... c5d4  12. b1c3  12... e8g8  13. c3b5 Attacking the bishop and improving the knight. This is an important moment. 13... d4b6 After this inaccurate move, White achieves a clear advantage. 14. b2b3 Not the most energetic move. 14... a7a6  15. b5c3  15... b6d4  16. c1b2  16... e6e5  17. d1d2 A good square for the queen. 17... c8e6  18. c3d5  18... b7b5 A good move, breaking White's structure and trying to destabilize the knight on d5. This hint of activity bothered Ding, who inexplicably decided to simplify the position instead of fighting for the initiative. 19. c4b5 A positional mistake as the knight loses its formidable position in the center. 19... a6b5  20. d5f4 This is Ding's idea, forcing many piece exchanges. 20... e5f4  21. g2c6  21... d4b2  22. d2b2  22... a8b8  23. f1d1 The game is heading for a draw. At this point, likely no one could expect a different result than this. But chess, like sports and life in general, can surprise us. 23... d8b6  24. c6f3  24... f4g3  25. h2g3  25... b5b4 Of course, the position is drawn. But in practice, it's more comfortable to play as Black due to the better pawn structure. In addition, Ding was in time trouble and his last moves showed a great desire to fight desperately for a draw, which must have increased Gukesh's confidence. 26. a2a4 The idea is to offer a pawn on the queenside to simplify the game further and go for a theoretically drawn endgame. 26... b4a3  27. a1a3  27... g7g6  28. b2d4  28... b6b5  29. b3b4  29... b5b4  30. d4b4  30... b8b4  31. a3a8  31... f8a8  32. f3a8 Without rooks or bishops, the endgame is easily drawn, and Gukesh wouldn't even try too much. But with rooks and bishops, it's possible to play with some hope of winning, although it would take a lot of optimism to really believe that the last game of a world championship match would end in a decisive result in such a position. 32... g6g5 Improving the pawn structure on the kingside. Black can play for hours on end before finally demonstrating a plan, which makes defense unpleasant. As expected, the game went on for many moves without a change in the assessment. 33. a8d5  33... e6f5 Of course, Black isn't willing to exchange bishops. 34. d1c1  34... g8g7  35. c1c7  35... f5g6  36. c7c4  36... b4b1 No rook exchange either. 37. g1g2  37... b1e1  38. c4b4 