Black fights to give the light-squared bishop a way back.
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 