Russian Chess Federation Chief Accuses Ding Liren Of 'Deliberate' Loss In World Championship Final To Gukesh

The President of the Russian Chess Federation, Andrei Filatov, has accused China's Ding Liren of deliberately losing the World Chess Championship final to India's D Gukesh.

Ukrainian chess coach Peter Heine Nielsen shared a screenshot of a report from Russian news agency TASS, in which Filatov urged FIDE to conduct a separate investigation into the final match between Ding and Gukesh, held in Singapore.

Filatov criticised Ding's crucial blunder, which turned the final game in Gukesh's favour, describing it as "bewildering to professionals and chess fans."

"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 in 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 stated, according to TASS.

The contentious move occurred in the final moments of the 14th and last game of the championship, which was heading for a likely draw. Under time pressure during a tense endgame, Ding made a critical error while attempting to mobilise his king and rooks to secure a draw.

The miscalculation allowed Gukesh to simplify the position, giving him a decisive advantage with more active pieces and a superior pawn structure, ultimately securing victory.

Kramnik Criticises Quality of Final

Filatov was not alone in expressing disappointment over Ding's mistake, which crowned Gukesh as the youngest-ever world champion at just 18 years old. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik also criticised the quality of play in the final.

Following the match, Kramnik voiced his frustration over the standard of the game, describing Ding's blunder as "childish."

On X, Kramnik remarked, "No comment. Sad. End of chess as we know it." In a separate post, he added, "Never yet has a WC title been decided by such a childish one-move blunder."

Kramnik had earlier criticised the level of play after Game 6 of the championship, calling it "weak."

"Frankly, I am very disappointed by today's game (Game 6). Even Game 5 was not extremely high level, but today it was really - for a professional - it was really weak play from both players. It's a very disappointing level," he had said.