1. d2d4 Gukesh changes his opening move after a loss in the first game when facing the French Defense. The die-hard supporters of this defense, of which there are plenty, must be really happy. 1... g8f6  2. g1f3  2... d7d5  3. c2c4  3... e7e6 The nuances of opening play in a match are very interesting. Hundreds of hours of analysis are devoted not only by the players who are currently on the board, but by many strong grandmasters, some of whom remain anonymous. New ideas are demonstrated and chess players from all over the world immediately begin to study them, leading to a great advance in opening knowledge. 4. c4d5  4... e6d5  5. b1c3  5... c7c6  6. d1c2  6... g7g6 Theoretically this is the \"problem\" with White's move order, since Black's bishop can be developed on f5. This position was previously considered harmless for Black, but new ideas have been discovered for White recently. 7. h2h3 A rare move that was played twice by Kramnik in 2023. 7... c8f5  8. c2b3  8... d8b6 The natural reply, but not forced. 9. g2g4 The bishop must be chased; otherwise White's opening play is pointless. 9... b6b3 Black has three equally good moves: 9...Qxb3, 9...Be6 and 9...Be4. 10. a2b3  10... f5c2 A critical move, but I wonder if retreating the bishop to e6 wasn't a more practical choice. 11. c1f4  11... h7h5 Black fights to give the light-squared bishop a way back. 12. h1g1 It's important to keep the pawn on g4 in order to restrict the c2-bishop. 12... h5g4  13. h3g4  13... b8d7 Ding finds a strong novelty, although it took him a long time on the clock. 14. f3d2 The bishop is stuck on c2, but Ding had foreseen this. 14... h8g8 The only way to justify 13...Nbd7. Black is right in time to save the bishop. The idea is to play …g6-g5 and bring it back. 15. g4g5 This grants the bishop the f5-square. 15... f6h5  16. f4h2 White's plan is to play f3-e4. 16... g8h8 Great efficiency from the rook. Having done its job on the g8, it's time to go back to an open file. 17. f2f3 Another innacuracy. 17... h5g7  18. h2g3 The critical moment in the game. 18... h8h5 Ding is careless with the c2-bishop. He certainly miscalculated something. 19. e2e4 Now the bishop is trapped and will eventually be captured. Black won't have enough compensation for the piece. Although there's still a lot of play left, there is a major shift in the assessment of the position. Furthermore, Gukesh had a large advantage on the clock at this point. 19... d5e4 A mistake never comes alone. That is one of the universal chess truths. 20. f3e4  20... g7e6  21. a1c1  21... e6d4  22. g3f2 Gukesh plays the remainder of the game with great accuracy. 22... f8g7  23. c3e2 The only move that leads to an advantage. 23... d4b3  24. c1c2  24... b3d2  25. e1d2 Black has two pawns for the piece, but objectively White's position is winning. The pieces have the potential to coordinate, there's the presence of the pair of bishops, Black's king is not very secure and his rooks are unconnected. 25... d7e5  26. e2d4  26... a8d8  27. d2e2  27... h5h2  28. f1g2  28... a7a6  29. b2b3 Gukesh is not in a hurry. Black has no meaningful plan. 29... d8d7  30. c2c1 Getting ready to improve the rook. 30... e8e7  31. c1d1  31... e7e8 Ding can only wait. 32. f2g3  32... h2h5  33. d4f3  33... e5f3 