Ding Liren Accused Of Losing On Purpose By Russian Chess Federation President; Calls For FIDE Investigation
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In light of the outcome, Filatov, as quoted by Russian agency TASS, had come out and accused Ding of throwing the game, asking FIDE to launch an investigation to determine the same.
Ding Liren lost in a hearbreaking Game 14 due to a crushing blunder late in the game against Gukesh (X)
It’s been less than a couple hours and Ding Liren is already under fire — not from chess fans alike but the President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrei Filatov — who has accused the Chinese GM of losing his title out to D Gukesh on purpose in Game 14 of the World Chess Championships on Thursday.
Liren and Gukesh were involved in a nail-biter of a final game, having thrown haymakers all through the match, with both players needing nothing but a win to secure the title.
Ding, who was poised to play out a draw and force young Gukesh to four games of Rapid chess to defend his title, lost track on move 55, and blundered, allowing the Indian to capitalise on the same and secure the victory and the World Champion title.
In light of the outcome, Filatov, as quoted by Russian agency TASS, had come out and accused Ding of throwing the game, asking FIDE to launch an investigation to determine the same.
“The result of the last game caused bewilderment among professionals and chess fans. The actions of the Chinese chess player in the decisive segment are extremely suspicious and require a separate investigation by FIDE. Losing the position in which Ding Liren was is difficult even for a first class player. The defeat of the Chinese chess player in today’s game raises a lot of questions and looks like a deliberate one,” Filatov was quoted as saying by the agency, according to Ukraine Chess coach, Peter Heine Nielsen.
Ding, who had come back to life in the Championship after a sensational Game 12 win and an inspired come-from-behind draw in Game 13, was left shell-shocked at his own blunder in the endgame (move 55 to be specific) of the final game, a mistake that would lead to Gukesh snatching away the coveted world champion title from Liren.
With his monumental win, Gukesh became the 18th GM and just the second Indian GM, after the legendary Viswanthan Anand, to win the world championship title.
