China always likes to be a spoilsport. And they have a cold logic to defend their decision. Chess fans were looking forward to the game between D Gukesh and Ding Liren on the top board in the seventh round on Wednesday ahead of their World Championship clash starting in Singapore on Nov 25.
But China rested Liren against sole leaders India. Instead, Wei Yi (Elo 2762) was promoted on the top board to take on Gukesh.
China probably put their best foot forward to draw or beat India by fielding their strongest possible team. Ding has been winless in this event. With Him struggling for some months now, there was not much to gain for China by fielding Ding, who has slipped to world No. 22 in live rating. A loss against Gukesh would have hurt his recovery from the slide.
V Anand told Chess base India during the live broadcast: "Everybody suspected it (Ding not playing). For me, it was not clear if he should duck this one or come and play. But losing with white against Liem (Vietnam) must have played a part. I won't read too much about that."
Russian GM Peter Svidler, during the Fide broadcast, said: "Wei Yi is the go-to person for China to win games. It would have made sense to give him white on the second board against Pragg and Ding holding Gukesh with black pieces. But not playing Ding is a strong indication that Ding is not himself. They are not willing to risk him playing black in this shape against a challenger whom he will play in two months time."
The match between the impending World Championship contestants is not that frequent in the Olympiad. With the impending match, both Liren and Gukesh would have been wary of going all out and a drawn game was the most likely result.
