New Delhi || 12-12-2024
The defending world champion, GM Ding Liren from China, was on the verge of losing this afternoon. A mixture of excellent defensive skills combined with a lot of good luck saved him to settle for a draw.
At the post match Press Conference Ding Liren said “I was confused with my opponents opening move order. He tricked me with his idea of delaying f4”.
With the match tied at 6-6 and only two classical games remaining, nerves were running high. At that point, any mistake could have been decisive and both players were showing incredible concentration considering the circumstances to remain in the match.
The challenger from India, D Gukesh missed a key defensive idea. “I thought I played quite a good game. When I played 31.Ne4 I missed his defence idea with 31…Rf8 and 32…Rc7. My initial intention was to exchange rooks first and only then Ne4, which should be winning” he explained after the game.
“I don’t think you will see a short draw tomorrow” were Ding’s final words before joining his team.
After 13th of the 14 scheduled classical games, the match is tied 6.5 – 6.5. The final classical game will be played on Thursday, 12 December at 5 PM local time in Singapore. Ding Liren will play White.
If the game ends in a draw, the rapid tiebreaks will be held on Friday 13 December.
