Does Ding Have a Chance?

And, an announcement.

I’m sure many of you remember this meme-able clip:

Is Ding Liren in better shape for his World Championship match against Gukesh Dommaraju than Jim Carrey’s character when it comes to ending up with Lauren Holly’s character in this movie? (Fun fact: Carrey and Holly wound up marrying in real life - briefly. Not-so-fun fact for those of us who remember the movie when it came out: she’s now 61. I’d say “inconceivable!”, but then the movie references would never end.)

Back to Ding and chess. He’s seen as a heavy underdog, as his performance since winning the title in early 2023 has been dismal by super-GM standards. But maybe all it takes is some good prep and a good start to give him the shot in the arm he needs? We’ll see. (More about Ding as underdog, here - HT: Allen Becker.)

Ok, announcement time. I’ve been doing this since the Anand-Gelfand match way back in 2012, so why stop now? Whenever there’s a World Championship match I’ve offered special, bonus coverage for subscribers in which I go especially deeply into the analysis of the games and provide video coverage as well. Here’s how this will work this time around: if you buy a year’s subscription of the blog, you’ve got it. This also goes for those who already have an annual subscription. Just make sure that you’ve subscribed with a valid email address, or I’ll have nowhere to send the analysis files (in CBV and PGN formats) or video download link.

More on the match over the weekend; play starts on Monday.