Here’s how the players assessed the action in their own words:

4 e3 Nf6 and 5 a3 Bg4 (Where Ding spent almost an hour)

Ding: “Game 11 was a difficult game for me. By move 4, I was already wondering if it was the right move. I remembered that once I played this game against B Adhiban in a rapid tournament. But I forgot what to do with the other moves. Gukesh then played 5. a3 which came as a surprise. Forty minutes went nowhere in calculating some nonsense variations.”

Gukesh: “I was aware of the game that he played with Adhiban. 5.a3 was a new move that my team showed me last night and I really liked the idea. It’s a rare move.”

11. g3 (When Gukesh spent an hour)

Gukesh: “I don’t know what I was thinking at that point. I was calculating so many different lines. I knew this was slightly better, but I couldn’t figure out the exact way… I was drifting with all these long lines. I just got really mad at myself. I was also getting lower than him on the clock, but I thought I should take a break now and just refresh because I wasn’t thinking clearly at that moment. So I just went to my lounge, spent a couple of minutes calming myself down. I just told myself, ‘okay, now I have already spoiled the advantage (on the clock), now let me just make one move at a time and not make any more mistakes’. After that, I was just trying to play one move at a time, just not losing on the spot.”

Game 11 | FIDE World Championship, presented by Google.
◽️White: Gukesh D 🇮🇳
◾️Black: Ding Liren 🇨🇳
⚔️ Result: 1 – 0
♟ Match score: 6 – 5 (in favour of Gukesh)
↔️ Game length: 29 moves
📖 Opening: Reti Opening
⚙️ Variation: Reversed Blumenfeld Gambit #DingGukesh pic.twitter.com/a3AOwRWOVy

— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) December 8, 2024

14.Qf4

Gukesh: “I think around this point, I was already kicking myself really badly. It was such a normal position and then suddenly my queen was stuck on f4 and I didn’t know what to do. I was just kicking myself. I had some problems getting myself back in the game. I was just trying to make one move at a time and not lose on the spot.”

15…g6

Ding: “When I played 15.g6, it was a horrible move. I missed a4 (Gukesh’s next move 16.a4). If I had played e6 (which the computer showed that Ding could have made here), maybe the position would not be so bad! After 15.g6, my bishop was clearly out of play. I don’t think I have any chance after that.”

Gukesh: “I was surprised with Ding saying he thought he was in trouble after g6. Because I thought I was in trouble. Yeah, it was maybe just a difference of opinion. Maybe, he was right. Maybe after 15…g6, I’m already out of danger. But I certainly didn’t think I was better. I was just surprised by (Ding’s assessment). I think I might be right. Because this position does not really look dangerous for Black. So, probably I’m right.”

INTERACTIVE: Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren

You can check out the move by move action from Game 11 between Gukesh and Ding Liren and also play along in the interactive below

16.a4

Gukesh: “a4 was, I think, a very important resource because at first I just had no idea what to do in this position. And then I saw a4. I was like, ‘okay, at least I can play bishop a3, bishop c5 and just sit tight.’”

21.Na3 and 22.Nc2

Ding: “After 21.Na3, I started to feel the difficulty of the game.

Gukesh: “Until I played knight to c2 (22.Nc2), I didn’t realise I actually had some chances to take over the game. And after this, the game went quite quickly. Yes, (by this stage), we probably both had less time than the number of moves we had to make. So, it was almost like a blitz game.”