World Chess: Ding catches Gukesh by surprise, wins Game1

By our Special Correspondent

Ding Liren hadn’t won a classical game in 304 days when he walked into the soundproofed, fishtank-like playing arena at the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore for Game 1 on Monday. His challenger – India’s D Gukesh – was already seated at the board in his giant-sized gaming chair. They shook hands and the Chinese settled into his regular-sized, unobtrusive-looking ergonomic chair.